Design for a lifetime

Design for a lifetime is a concept that revolves around creating an environment that addresses your needs today while fulfilling them in the future. Installing a home elevator is a perfect way to exemplify this concept. A Savaria home elevator  provides you with an easy alternative to carrying groceries, baskets of laundry and even your child’s stroller over a hefty flight of stairs. The elevator will be useful for helping your parents and perhaps you in the years to come. An elevator can provide  you with a lifetime of use as generations pass, allowing you to stay in your home longer.

Savaria elevators also offer a wide variety of finishes from finely crafted hardwood to a variety of fixtures to suit your needs and tastes. Your local contactor and Savaria dealer can enhance your installation including amenities such as a glass hoistway and glass window in your elevator, so you can enjoy the view as well as some natural light. By eliminating the barrier of stairs, and suiting your décor needs, an elevator will enable you to enjoy your home longer while increasing the value of your home in the process. Offering safety, convenience and comfort, Savaria’s line of products can be found here as well as in this short video.

Aging and Accessibility: A growing relationship

Ever worried about having the health, social and recreational services being within a block or two of where you live? Although this distance isn’t much, do you think about how difficult it is to access these places?  If you drive, find it easy to walk, or take the bus now, you’re not concerned today. But as a senior, your day-to-day needs may become challenge-filled.

For some seniors, the ability to drive is diminished as a result of impaired vision, walking several blocks could be difficult and accessible public transit may not exist. Take a look at your own neighborhood and mentally map out a 1 mile radius accounting for the services you will need.  Many city planners are doing this in anticipation of supporting the rapidly aging population. This includes improving accessible transportation and strategically positioning new social and health services for ease of access.

According to statistics, 1 in 5 North Americans will be 60 and above by 2025. This brings forth the issue of accessibility and infrastructure planning for the aging.  The Institute for Life Course and Aging, University of Toronto presents an example of how a neighborhood could change to accommodate future needs, including effective visuals of real Toronto streets.  See more about this here.