CONCEPT AND HISTORY
THE HAMLET ON LOPEZ ISLAND

PROVIDING LIVING AND HEALTH SUPPORT SERVICES TO ENABLE RURAL SENIOR RESIDENTS TO "AGE IN PLACE"

Until now, there have been no dedicated facilities on Lopez Island to provide integrated living healthcare support and 24-hour care for our large and growing senior population. Traditional assisted living models with full nursing/food facilities and other high cost services are not affordable for rural communities like Lopez Island. Accordingly, Lopez Housing Options (LOHO), a nonprofit organization developed a unique model designated as THE HAMLET to address this need and the economic realities. The model includes the following key components:

1. Completion and analysis of research and discussions with over 150 of the island's senior population that substantiates the need for and interest in the Hamlet;
2. Fully utilizing all the available services and resources to support the project. This is described in our model as the Circle of Community Support;
3. Adoption of an Aging in Place concept that enables seniors to downsize into a familiar community setting providing a continuum of services as aging and needs progress;
4. The use of economic solutions to keep the cost of development and operations down including design features, building alternatives, cluster healthcare, and community involvement while maintaining high quality standards.
5. Adopting sustainable "green" components such as water, energy, and building materials consistent with the cultural and ecological values of this rural community;
6. Ensuring that the model addresses affordability and provides true economic diversity;
7. Building into the model effective wellness programs that utilize advanced exercise, recreation, and social activites that combine to extend and provide quality of life values.

These key components inspired this innovative solution for Lopez Island. We hope LOHO will be a potential model for the numerous rural communities across the country seeking ways to deal with their large and growing senior population.

Seniors residing in rural America are "at risk." Studies in the Journal of Rural Health and other publications are calling attention to a growing crisis and resultant exodus of seniors from their rural communities. Seniors leave because they can no longer remain in their homes and no adequate alternative facilities and services are available. They move to urban areas to more expensive facilities with often unnecessary care such as nursing homes, or to relatives where they lose their independence and feel they are a burden. The research further shows that seniors who remain in a familiar setting with long time friends and community can enhance their longevity and "quality of life."

Seniors should be considered "social capital" to any community, according to Robert D. Putnam, Harvard professor and co-author of Better Together: Restoring the American Community. The goal of the Hamlet is not to just provide housing and care but to retain the positive contribution our seniors make to our community. They safeguard our values, keep and tell our stories, provide wisdom of living with both joy and sadness, and through all this provide that invaluable heritage that enriches our island life.

LOHO believes we have found a practical and economical solution for retaining and caring for, as well as drawing on, the "social capital" of our senior population.

DEFINING THE LOPEZ ISLAND NEED

When this assessment began, there were no facilities on Lopez Island to serve the senior population with 24-hour care coverage. The options for Lopez Island residents were to either remain in their homes and retain expensive private care support, typically costing 2-4 times that of an Adult Family Home (AFH), or leave for another island or the mainland to find these services. Our research indicated that more than twenty individuals or couples have left Lopez Island in the last several years, people who would have preferred to remain on the island with family and friends if such an alternative were available.

Related to the above is the need to provide a solution for senior independent living on Lopez Island. There are a few one-story HUD units available, but they are not sufficient to address the current and projected need. Senior couples and singles that cannot (or do not want to) maintain their current homes must move off the island. They leave behind long-term associations and a committed passion for their home community.

Research indicated a high level of interest among potential users on Lopez Island age 55 and above, in a project that would supply residential living and healthcare options near the village center. Of the 119 current and future seniors surveyed for one special study:

1. 84% were aware of someone who had to leave the island because of health problems;
2. 93% indicated that it was very or somewhat important to have care and housing options on Lopez Island for themselves or family members if the need existed;
3. 74% indicated that they would be very or somewhat interested in moving from their current home to a smaller place if they could not maintain their current residence. 85% indicated that they would be interested in moving in the future to the project that was described to them;
4. 93% indicated that it was very or somewhat important for this facility to be within easy walking distance to the village center.

The Hamlet project covers a small portion of the age 65-plus current and projected resident population. The estimated 16-19 residents in the cottage units and six in the Adult Family Home (a total of 25 residents) represent only 4% of the current and 2.5 % of 2020 projected 65-plus resident population.