Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 17, 1995                   TAG: 9507180118
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TRACI CARL ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TOPEKA, KAN.                                LENGTH: Medium

COTTAGES ALLOW ELDERLY PARENTS TO LIVE WITH FAMILY INDEPENDENTLY

``I just couldn't abandon her in a nursing home,'' she said. But her home wasn't designed for someone in a wheelchair.

Ekey did some research and found out about a company that designs, manufactures and sets up small, modular apartments in one- and two-car garages or yards. The units, which can be bought or rented, include a tub, toilet, bed and other easy-to-use features for elderly or disabled people who have trouble getting around by themselves.

Ekey set up one of the apartments at her Topeka home as part of a study being conducted by the University of Kansas.

Her mother lived there until she died last January. Ekey's mother-in-law, who also was ill, then moved into the unit until her recent death.

``I always say it was a lot of hard work,'' Ekey said about caring for her mother and mother-in-law. ``But I would do it all over again because it was so rewarding.''

Stephen Menke, president of Mobile Care Inc. in Great Bend, said he got the idea for the apartments - called HomeCare suites or elder cottages - from Australia, where many elderly people live in ``granny flats'' next to their families.

A former hospital administrator, Menke wanted to make it easier for people to care for aging or disabled loved ones. ``A lot of people had no place to go,'' he said.

His idea caught the attention of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the University of Kansas.

HUD is reviewing use of the structures as an alternative form of housing, Menke said. The university is studying the effects the units have on families and the quality of care family members provide.

Nancy Gnotta, project coordinator and researcher at the University of Kansas, said the first phase of the study, which has been completed, examined how five families responded to the units.

The study found that people who were caring for a family member or friend were in favor of the apartments, but those who already had decided to place a family member in a nursing home were less supportive of the idea.

The five families who tried the apartments, including the Ekey family, all recommended their use, although the time and money spent taking care of loved ones increased significantly, Gnotta said.

The university is trying to sign up 200 participants for the second phase of the study, which will look at the economic, physical and emotional effects the apartments have on families who care for elderly.

The study is expected to last at least two more years and include people from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky. HUD will provide some financial assistance to those who qualify. The research is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Aging.

Menke, who has produced 10 demonstration units and has begun production on 30 regular units, said the apartments can be moved easily and used up to 20 times by different families.

A bathroom is built first, and the rest of the apartment is built around it, using 2-foot wide panels constructed of foam insulation, fireproof plasterboard and steel surrounded by vinyl wallpaper and siding.

``It goes together like building blocks,'' Menke said.

The floor plans range from a one-room studio with a large, separate bathroom to a four-bedroom cottage.

The apartments have their own heating, cooling and plumbing systems that connect to a neighboring home's electrical and sewage systems. They also can become a temporary addition to a home.

Ekey said visitors from as far away as Detroit and Washington, D.C., came to see the apartment at her home. Many were surprised that the siding and paint on the outside walls of the unit matched the main house.

She and her husband rented the apartment for $800 a month, $1,400 less than the $2,200 they would have paid at a nursing home.

Some people choose to buy the apartments, which cost between $25,000 and $40,000, depending on the size, Menke said. The company will buy back an apartment if it can't be resold.