NPR–'Granny Pods' Keep Elderly Close, At Safe Distance

Of all the elderly people he’s visited, the Rev. Kenneth Dupin remembers a woman named Katie in particular.

Katie had a houseful of treasured memorabilia, and she loved to regale him with stories of Washington high society in the 1950s. But after she was moved to a nursing home, “she started crying,” Dupin says. “I went over to her, and she pulled me down to where I could hear her, and she said, ‘Please take me home.'”

She never did go back home, but after she died, her memory stayed with Dupin. He tells NPR’s Audie Cornish that it got him wondering if there was a way to keep people like Katie out of nursing homes and closer to their families. His idea might seem strange, but “granny pods” are catching on.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, Aging / the Elderly, Corporations/Corporate Life, Economy, Health & Medicine, Marriage & Family, Pastoral Theology, Psychology, Religion & Culture, Theology

4 comments on “NPR–'Granny Pods' Keep Elderly Close, At Safe Distance

  1. BlueOntario says:

    Thanks for sharing this info!

  2. magnolia says:

    great idea but at 2k per month that will shut out a lot of people unless LTC policies or Medicare helps out.

  3. Cennydd13 says:

    Heck, our granddaughters…..and now our great granddaughter…..live just up the road from us, and we all love the arrangement. Nice! And Grandma and Grandpa are busier than ever.

  4. Jeff Walton says:

    The “Grannie unit” is a great idea. Many people feel guilty about placing their parents in a retirement home, but they don’t want to share the same house with them, either.