Illuminating Barriers to Aging in Place for Black Older Adults

• Pages: 57-60
• Date: 01 March 2025
• Published date: 01 March 2025
• Author: Charity Dera
• Subject Matter: Derecho Público y Administrativo

Bifocal

46 Issue 4

57

Illuminating Barriers to Aging in Place for

Black Older Adults

By Charity Dera, Third Year Juris Doctor Candidate at

Stetson University College of Law

As the years pass, the silver strands of my grand-

mother’s hair increase at an exponential rate.

Each strand on display is a micro portrait of

wisdom, resilience, and undeniable love. Yet, in the ag-

gregate, her crown of ne silver coils overwhelmingly

attests to her tenure on this earth—one that has not been

glamorous, but every bit worthwhile. Like many Amer-

icans, her desire is to “age in place,” a concept used to

describe the preference of most older adults to remain

in their homes and contribute to their communities for

as long as possible. However, what does that look like

for someone like my Black widowed grandmother?

Though aging in place should not be a “one-size-ts

all” approach, a simple Google search illuminates that

an overwhelming amount of aging in place marketing is

targeted almost exclusively toward White older adults.

Legal professionals have a unique opportunity to speak

to inequities and aid in providing tangible solutions so

that barriers preventing some older Black Americans

from aging in place can be eliminated. Attacking bar-

riers that lead to housing instability would correlate di-

rectly with the rate of homelessness among this demo-

graphic and contribute positively to the holistic thriving

of society.

Though many of the issues plaguing Black older adults

should not be addressed in isolation, as they can be de-

scribed as interwoven webs that speak to broader struc-

tural and institutional ideals, the purpose of this arti-

cle will be to provide a non-exhaustive list that could

help in identifying some of the real barriers older Black

Americans may face when attempting to age in place.

Aging in Apartments

While renting can certainly be appropriate under indi-

vidual circumstances, it can come with inherent disad-

vantages such as the inability to build equity, lack of

tax benets, reliance on a landlord, etc. Particularly for

minority renters with disabilities who may be steward-

ing lower wages and inadequate Supplemental Security