Do you know anyone in their 90s who lives at home independently?

[Meltingchocolate]

I know one person in their 90s who lives at home and has carers four times a day. He can’t go out alone and depends on a wheelchair.

I know one couple who are quite independent and still mobile eg do all their own shopping. They don’t need carers but they help each other.

It was part of a discussion with my elderly parents (early 80s) where they assumed that most people in their 90s would be living in a care home. I was wondering how common it is for people in their 90s to still live in their own home?

My mum lives alone and is 90, and my MIL also lives at home at 100. MIL has carers twice a day, and my husband and his brothers visit her every day between them. My mum is still able to go out - she has a good social life - and doesn't need carers yet. She lives near a reasonable high street, and likes to shop every day, but is capable of getting groceries delivered if she needed to.

My mother is 89 and lives alone independently. She goes out and meets friends and is active in her church. She is starting to fail fast now though. I think she may need carers in a year or two .

Our neighbour is early nineties and lives independently. She does have gardeners now (her garden is vast), but she does everything else herself. She often bakes us cakes too!

MIL is early 90s. She walks her dogs twice a day, does all her own cleaning and gardening. If you go out walking with her she yells at you to keep up. Until last year she worked in the local pub. She drives quite well and does lots of sewing and knitting. She then sells her stuff at craft fairs. She’s a very busy person.

Both dh’s grandparents lived independently at home til mid 90s. His maternal grandad died at 95 at home with family checking in on him until the last weeks (then had proper carers and palliative care). His paternal grandparents lived at home til mid 90s, then grandma got dementia and both went into care homes, Grandad died a couple months later at 97 and grandma is still alive. Both also only had family carers until the very end.

Lots of people I know were/are at home in their 90s including my grandparents. I dont know anyone who is in or was in a care home.

Three of my grandparents lived in their own homes with minimal assistance into their 90s. The same applies to many of their siblings. I seem to have longevity in both sides of my family.

DH’s Granny lived at home until she was 99. Then a combo of new neighbours and a lot of building work in her area (her view disappeared) made her feel it was time to go into a sheltered housing setting.
None would take her because of her age so she ended up in a home.

She still goes to the shop every day that someone can go visit to get her paper. She went alone until she realised how worried the home staff and family were so on her 100th birthday went herself for the last time.

she has a huge family so gets to go most days. Very occasionally now she’ll agree to a wheelchair if she’s not had much sleep as she’s terrified of breaking a hip, but most days she still walks the 5 mins each way. She’s now 105.

Until very recently I knew 3 ladies all well into their 90's and living at home with varying help. Cleaners, gardeners etc. One was 99! All 3 sadly now frail and in homes.

My great great aunt lived to be 96 and never went into a home. She was a bit fragile and unwell in the last couple of weeks of her life but until then she was as strong as an ox (for a 90+ woman). She passed away at home just as she wanted when her time came.

I’d love to know more about the lifestyles of all these very long living people. They all sound very active which is probably key. Those who garden, walk and take an interest in life live longer .

The 106 year old I know walks every day is always smartly dressed in shirt, tie and hat.

My dad was amazing. He served in both Belgium and France in WW2 and was present at the liberation of Belsen. He did heavy manual jobs for most of his working life, much of it as a long distance lorry-driver. This in the days when driving lorries was hard physical work as there was no power assisted steering or automatic gears. Also no containers so he had to rope and sheet all his loads. I never knew him have any time off sick and in the early days there was no statutory holiday entitlement so our annual fortnight in Cornwall had to be saved hard for and there was no pay while you weren’t working. He was strong both physically and mentally and this stood him in good stead as he aged. He always ate well and had no decline in appetite as he aged. He was cooking himself proper meals until two months before he died.

My fabulous granny died at 98 last year. She lived at home independently until a hospital stay and 6 weeks of care home before she died. She had 2 previous hospital admissions followed by a short care package, but she’d generally done everything she needed to before the carers got there. She saw them off as soon as she could. She had a gardener and a cleaner for the heavy stuff in later years but was fiercely independent. She cooked, did bits in the garden including seed sowing and bulb planting. She did light cleaning, she knitted and loved to go out. Her social life was far better than mine. Her positive attitude and refusal to accept help kept her going despite considerable pain that she rarely admitted to. She is greatly missed.

Our neighbours three doors away - both 90, both active, sharp and healthy and both hearty dog walkers until they lost their lovely golden retriever just after Christmas. Chatting to them yesterday and they're torn on whether to get another dog at their age but aware of how active it has kept them throughout their 80s 😢

My father in law is about to turn 95 and everyone thinks he's in his 70s. He's fit, very on the ball and still dabbles as a lawyer. My Grandparents both died over 25 years ago but lived until 90 completely independently (together!).

Quite a few. Unless you have one foot in the grave or can fully fund yourself, it’s actually quite difficult to get a place in a residential care home.

This is why the love emoji - I’m absolutely in awe of your Mum and I hope that she gats her card from King Charles

My DM lives independently in her own home (apart from having a weekly cleaner). She’s 94.

My mum is 91 this year and lives independently

I knew two people who lived at home in their 100s. And a few in their 90s.