If you’re getting older and want to stay in your home, the one room you’ll have to adapt is your bathroom.

“You have to be able to bathe yourself, from a hygiene standpoint,” said David Asbridge, a certified aging-in-place specialist and owner of DreamMaker Bath and Kitchen, 1141 Deadwood Ave. in Rapid City.

But a modified bathroom doesn’t have to look like one you’d find in a hospital room.

“People say they don’t want it to look like a clinic or institutional,” Asbridge said.

Barrier-free showers, lowered sinks, open vanities, special fixtures and raised toilets are all available in the latest design elements and styles and allow for independence.

A more difficult hurdle to overcome, however, is stairs.

“The current stock of houses is not built for older adults. There are a lot of split-level homes and lots of stairs,” said Leacey Brown, a gerontology field specialist for South Dakota State University Extension. “As people grow older, it’s a lot more likely that they will have disabilities, and stairs will be a problem.”

Brown said in addition to an accessible bathroom, having a bedroom or a room that can be converted into a bedroom and laundry facilities on the main floor will allow you to stay in your home longer.

The time to consider modifying your home is sooner than you think.

“Humans are always in denial that they are aging until something happens in their life that restricts them from living how they lived,” Asbridge said.

He said young couples should be thinking about home design to accommodate aging or injuries when they purchase a home.

“It’s far less expensive to modify your home than it is to go in to nursing care. It’s unbelievable the costs per month. To modify your home, after the initial expense, you won’t have that anymore,” Asbridge said. “You could do it in phases. It’s not like you have to spend $100,000.”

And the alternative comes at a much higher price.

“If you are forced in to nursing care, studies have shown life expectancy drops,” he said.

Brown said that people should make the necessary changes to their homes while they are still working.

“We buy houses for people who are never going to grow old,” she said.