Enabling Older People to Stay at Home: How Adaptable are Existing Properties?

Abstract

A multiprofessional research project examined in detail the factors that affect the adaptability of existing housing and explored issues relating to the introduction of assistive technology into the existing homes of older people in order to provide them with the opportunity to ‘stay put’. The research reported here investigated the feasibility of adapting the existing stock of social housing and the resulting costs and outcomes of introducing assistive technology. This paper outlines that part of the project that examined in detail the adaptability of 82 properties representing a variety of property types to accommodate the needs of seven notional users, characterising the most common range of impairments of older people. The factors that affect a property's adaptability include property type and specific design and construction features. The implications for housing providers, clients and occupational therapists are discussed. The research identified the unique expertise of occupational therapists, spanning the areas of housing, older people and assistive technology, and it introduced methods and tools that can help to determine best housing outcomes as well as cost implications. It is crucial that the profession is proactive in contributing to the development of housing policies that address the needs of an ageing population effectively.

Assistive technologies for use in the home to prolong independence

“…They looked at existing homes and made recommendations for various adaptations which could increase the safety of the senior adults thereby allowing them to stay in their homes [21]. Based on individual needs, some of their recommendations include using lever door handles, installing amplifiers on door bells and telephones, installing grab rails and handrails in appropriate locations, ramps, stair lifts, external lighting with passive infra-red, lowered light switches, raised electrical outlets, level thresholds, wider doors and corridors, and electric window and door openers.…”

Enabling Older People to Stay at Home: The Costs of Substituting and Supplementing Care with Assistive Technology

“…For the augmented packages, the corresponding figures are break-even periods of 1-7 years, and typically about half the average life expectancy. However, these are average figures across all property types and, as discussed in Goodacre et al (2007) and Lansley et al (2004), the cost of adapting properties varies greatly. For those properties where adaptation is not straightforward, these costs can be so high as to eliminate any potential saving, but for easy-to-adapt properties the costs can be surprisingly low, even where the needs of the user are complex and extensive, leading to very significant savings.…”

“…The challenges created in respect of housing have, until recently, received less attention, but over the past decade there has been a new recognition of its importance. Goodacre et al (2007) reported on research that examined the feasibility of adapting the existing stock of social housing and installing assistive technology (AT), in order to facilitate 'ageing in place'. It showed how the costs varied between and within different types of property, and identified those factors that result in a property being easy and inexpensive to adapt and those that make adaptation difficult or costly, or even impossible.…”

“…The definition of AT used for the study was a broad one, in line with that used by the Royal Commission on Long Term Care: 'an umbrella term for any device or system that allows an individual to perform a task that they would otherwise be unable to do or increase the ease and safety with which the task can be performed' (Tinker et al 1999, p81). Goodacre et al (2007) discussed the unique understanding that occupational therapists bring to the functional needs of older people, the practicalities of adapting housing and the availability and appropriateness of AT. Their experience corroborates qualitative research findings that highlight the value that many older people place on AT as a means A wide-ranging multiprofessional research project explored issues relating to the introduction of assistive technology into the existing homes of older people in order to provide them with the opportunity to remain at home.…”

Physical barriers and risks in basic activities of daily living performance evaluation in state housing for older people in Chile

“…Occupational therapists have also used other procedures, including checklists and home visit reports, and have implemented valuable accessibility evaluation tools relating physical abilities, taking into consideration characteristics of the built environment such as the Housing Enabler (Iwarsson, 1999;Goodacre et al, 2007). These are useful tools to measure the relationship between the capacities of individuals and the demands of the environment (Zemcke and Clarck, 1996).…”