Temporary pods for elderly are set to crop up in Va. yards

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The Rev. Kenneth Dupin, who leads a small Methodist church here, has a vision: As America grows older, its aging adults could avoid a jarring move to the nursing home by living in small, specially equipped, temporary shelters close to relatives.

So he invented the MEDcottage,a portable dwelling that could be trucked to a loved one's back yard. It would be configured with the latest medical technology to monitor vital signs, filter the air for contaminants and link up to the outside world via high-tech video. Sophisticated sensors could alert someone to an occupant's fall, and computers designed for the needs of people who are older or disabled could give reminders about taking medications. The technology could even entertain with a selection of the person's favorite music, books or movies. It would take up about as much room as a large shed and hook up to a single-family home through existing electrical and water supplies, like an RV. It could be leased for almost $2,000 a month, a cost Dupin hopes will be borne by insurers.

Skeptics, however, have a different name for Dupin's product: the granny pod."

more


N2Care

http://www.medcottage.com/

[Blue-Jay]

1. They're just gathering them up for the Death Panels.

:)

[Vinca]

2. Easier to load granny onto the ice floe, I guess.

[JBoy]

5. Bye Granny!

[Vinca]

18. ROFL - I don't believe you found a photo like that!

:rofl:

[HALO141]

3. HOA's are going to have a field day with this. n/t

[Dappleganger]

12. Very true.

[Fleshdancer]

23. Looks like this company is already trying to work around this issue:

http://www.medcottage.com/whitePaper/zoning.html

N2Care realizes that the zoning regulations may be somewhat encumbering and could potentially hinder the mobility of the sales and distribution of the MEDcottage without multiple strategies. Our first course of action shall be to rely upon the above mentioned application of the Fair Housing Act. Through discussions with local zoning boards, we have discovered other means to satisfy certain municipalities. For example, Roanoke County, Virginia would require that the MEDcottage be permanently attached to the primary home through various options including decking, walkways, etc. Although this may be a tedious administrative task collaborating with the various municipalities, it is not cost or labor prohibitive.

[Matariki]

4. $2000 a month?

I guess that's a small price to pay to not have the in-laws actually *in* the house?

[sufrommich]

6. For $2000 a month you can rent Granny a condo with

room service.

[monmouth]

16. Or send her on a cruise. Great food, good times and very inexpensive...n/t

[DJ13]

7. Screw that, this is free

[LiberalLoner]

9. LOL I love it! n/t

[jtuck004]

8. Beats being homeless, or tossed into some crappy nursing home. n.t

[Dappleganger]

10. If it takes something like this to help a family keep grandma with them

instead of going into a nursing home of strangers, I'd be supportive of this kind of an option.

Not everyone has an extra bedroom on the main floor, the funds to convert a garage into an apartment or add on an addition to the house. Of course the relative couldn't stay there all the time, and my concern would be if they are brought out regularly. Who does the monitoring if nobody's home or goes on vacation?

OTOH, the nightmares of the FEMA problems come to mind...we definitely wouldn't want that to happen.

IMO we really do need to think more outside the box with regards to the increasingly aging population. We bought our home knowing that dh's parents may be with us one day so when the kids are gone it's already set up on one level.

[htuttle]

11. The return of the "Mother-in-law-house"

It's a rather old idea, unless they are talking about some sort of fiberglass and smoked glass space ship looking thing like a Japanese commuter motel tube that you just roll in and plug in. That would be new.

[Enrique]

13. they should have called it the Coccoon

and hire Wilfred Brimley to do infomercials.

[Ezlivin]

14. Pods?

I don't think the grandparents are quite ready for that yet.

[RKP5637]

15. +1, n/t

[librechik]

17. only if they have a self-destruct mechanism

and what about all the relatives who don't have professional nursing degrees and can't give certain medications?

leased for $2000? I guess if me and the other 16 cousins get together we could afford that, while trying to support our families...

They won't even do this for homeless folks. This will never happen here, though maybe Japan is a potential market...

[RKP5637]

19. Sadly as one of my friends says, "live healthy and hope to die quickly." I have

absolutely no idea how most families would just casually pay out $2,000/mo. with just extra pocket change cash laying around collecting dust.

And not everyone has living relatives as they age, at least usually not ones with an extra $2,000 laying around... or sometimes even any interest in their aging relatives.

This is a pretty bad place to age in, certainly not the worst, but not at the top of the list.

[petronius]

20. For some reason this made me think of the disintegration chambers that

are a staple of old sci-fi...

[virgogal]

21. Zoning laws would prohibit it in many cities and towns.

[Forkboy]

22. I have a pod...it's called my apartment.

Are you telling me there's an easier way!!!???!!!

I'm aiming for Roujin Z!

[Fleshdancer]

24. They look like hotel rooms basically

It's an interesting concept. It might actually take off if they can get the monthly rates down to what an efficiency would cost per month. I don't see a whole lot of room for storage though...adding clothes/personal items plus any needed medical equipment might make the space a bit tight.