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?

I visit elderly people at home as part of my job and come across a lot ! last week I met a 93 year old caring not only for himself but his wife and have met a 99 year old still cooking for her family. Amazing.

How on earth do you know about David Attenborough's living arrangements?!

My own grandparents did, plus I consistently meet people over the age of 90 who still live in their own homes. There are more elderly people living at home than there are in residential/ nursing care settings.

Next door but one is 96. She takes her car out every day to the supermarket! She's deaf but otherwise fine.

A friends dad just died at 96 . He lived at home independently until that time. Another friend has a mother of 94 who is still living independently. My friend does help her with a lot though.

Next door neighbour did. She was 99 when she died and had very little intervention from carers despite no close family. Very active until Covid lockdown, I would say she went downhill after that. Neighbour opposite is 92 lives alone but daughter close by. Had a fall a few weeks ago, broke her leg and now they aren't sure she'll be able to return home to live independently but was fine until this point.

Several people in my family have lived or are living independently into their 90s. I'm hoping it's genetic.

Yes I do and he’s very sprightly for his age. Does everything for himself. No care needs. He worked until well into his 80s in a very manual job.

My 98 year old grandfather lives with her ten years younger wife independently. Wife is in wheelchair. Their son cleans and does other small tasks for them. Grandfather drives with his mobile scooter to the pharmacy and they order food. Neither of them have dementia. They don't have carers.

Yes I know 2. One is still driving and playing in music ensembles. The other has only just stopped driving but still does freelance work making and demonstrating crafts. Both have adult children/younger friends visiting to help out often but not on a daily basis.

I volunteer at a foodpantry. Many of the volunteers are well into their 80s with varying degrees of health issues but all live independently - mostly in apartments they downsized to on retirement. One woman is 90, very fit, lives independently, drives etc.

My great aunt did and was totally independent as was DH great uncle and his very sweet great aunt, she went first. He had been a fireman in the London Blitz and was still walking two miles a day to collect his morning newspaper til” he died after a very short illness at 96. I have a friend who is 95 and he still gets out and about, he was widowed about a decade ago. He has a little walker but I’m always bumping in to him. My neighbour is almost 98, she has carers now but was still walking past my house wearing a proper hat and gloves till she was about 90 to get in to the city centre which is about 8 miles away. She is truly a proper lady of the sort that do not seem to exist anymore. She has lived in her house since 1928 when she moved there with her parents as a toddler and it was newly built. She remembers the road being made using tarmac as had been just cinders.

My Mother and Aunt both lived to 95 and were fine till they got to about 89 and then rapidly went downhill. My Uncle was fit as a fiddle and died of a massive heart attack at almost 90, dropped dead on his drive, if I could choose a way to go it would be that.

My friend's Mum did without carers. One of my neighbours went into a care home a year or two back, all she had was a private cleaner and a food delivery. Another neighbour is also completely independent in her 90s. I doubt it's the most common thing, but it can happen for some.

FIL did - lived at home until he died (age 100!) and it was only from about 97 that he needed external assistance.

My mum is 94, as fit as a flea, lives alone and has a better social life than I do.

Yes, my dad. He does his shopping on line and gets a bus wherever he goes since he gave up his car.

Thing that pisses me off is the way young people (I.e. under 50) speak to him like he's a bloody halfwit!

Went to the bank with him to do some transactions and all through the bloody woman (late 30s?) called him sweetheart!! How bloody patronising! He is a bit slower now, but still has all his marbles.

I may give feedback - years ago it would have been 'sir' now it's 'sweetie' . FFS

My nan did until age 94 when she had a sudden heart attack at home. Prior to that she was completely independent in her own home, no carers, fully mobile, cooked for herself, went out shopping three times a week on the buses etc.

I believe she was on statin medication but that was it.

My (now dead) parents both lived at home until their deaths which followed extremely short illnesses. They were both over 90. They lived in a large house and managed it themselves, including 2 big gardens. They were both still driving in their 90s.

Age did not wither them, until it suddenly saw them both off.

We went to visit my dad's great-aunt when she was 94. We found her on her knees gardening, whereupon she got up, brushed herself off, and took us out to lunch.

Depends how U define it.
I knew an old lady, bed bound and non-communicative where her ds promised never to put her in a care home.
She had carers popping in 3 times a day for a few years feeding/changing her until she passed. She never ended up in a home, she lived alone (her ds popped in 1-2 times a week) but I wouldn't call it living independently.

My Grandad. He's 90, lives alone, independently, still drives.

Wow to these stories!

My parents have always lived independently and wouldn’t let me and my siblings do anything but they are starting to struggle now through ill health and neither of them have driven for a few years.

They don’t know anyone at all in their 90s. All their friends and family are long gone. The examples I gave are of people I know of ie friends’ parents.

My mother did until she was 96, and had a fall whilst popping out to buy croissants - turned out she had cellulitis but thought a walk would make her feel better. She had a cleaner once a week, and I took her shopping etc.

She found lockdown terribly hard as was still playing bridge until then (and in fact she and 3 other equally tough nonagenarians continued through lockdown). The time she spent in hospital following the fall was the first time since having her 4 babies, so she has been blessed with very good health.

She is now in a care home, and making the most of it, enjoying a cooked breakfast every morning, and a glass of wine with dinner. She’s 99 in August.

Yes, my Mum (91), and lots of her friends and neighbours, although some of those are probably 'only' in their 80s. Mum has no carers and no cleaner (most of her friends do have a cleaner, and she would like one now, but hasn't found one who can take a new client yet). She does light cleaning, all her own cooking, washing and ironing, and still does a fair bit of baking. She's out in the garden right now potting up annuals for her tubs. A son of one of her friends (a mere stripling in his 60s) works as a handyman doing odd jobs and he comes round every so often to do the gardening and DIY jobs that are beyond her.

I don't know how much longer she can go on like this. She has good cognitive capacity and manages her own finances perfectly well. She's in fairly good health for 91, but can't walk all that far now. She never drove. My Dad did, so now he's gone she depends on lifts and fortunately she has many kind neighbours and friends willing to help her there. She can walk as far as a small Co-op and occasionally gets the bus to places further afield. It helps a lot that she has such good neighbours and is very involved with the local church, also that she has cousins living fairly nearby who visit and call regularly.

I go up to stay with her every couple of months. My brother and I are a long way off, as my parents chose to retire to a place nowhere near either of us, including a ferry ride. This worked out very well for them for a long time, but is not ideal now. Still, it's a lovely place to stay, once the interminable journey is finally over.

It’s an educated guess, given that he’s still travelling a lot and making documentaries.