Home Modification Assessments: Clinical Utility and Treatment Context

Abstract

Occupational therapists need effective assessments to help evaluate the physical, social, and psychological aspects of the home environment when planning home modification interventions. Assessment tools need to have a client-centered focus, emphasis on occupation or occupational performance, comprehensive evaluation of the environment, strong psychometric properties, and clinical utility. When selecting an assessment tool, occupational therapists also need to take into an account the type of home modification interventions that they will be able to complete in a given treatment context. Because of the unique needs of each home modification intervention, there is no one-fits-all assessment; the best tool will depend on the context of care. This paper details six assessment tools for use in three different contexts of care.

The Clinimetric Properties of Instruments Measuring Home Hazards for Older People at Risk of Falling: A Systematic Review

“…Using nonstandardized instruments contributes to health practitioners not being able to explain the relevance and necessity of interventions to clients and other disciplines, according to available evidence. Nonstandardized instruments might over- or underestimate falls risk, and therefore unnecessary, excessive, or inadequate modifications were recommended as a result (Weeks, Lamb, & Pickens, 2010). Selection of an instrument should be based on the reasoning and justification by the health practitioner on the need to conduct a home visit and home evaluation.…”

“…Selection of an instrument should be based on the reasoning and justification by the health practitioner on the need to conduct a home visit and home evaluation. The reasoning will often be associated with a client’s living arrangement, conditions, and functional level as well as how far the instrument provides meaningful intervention planning, how much time it takes to administer, and the resources needed (Atwal et al, 2014; Weeks et al, 2010).…”

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the aging transformation scale for older adults with dementia

“…At present, the tool is widely used in aging transformation of older adults in the United States [8] and has also been adapted for research of aged care services [9][10][11]. Weeks et al [12] believe that CASPAR adopts a cooperative approach to assess the needs of the home environment transformation of older adults, which is simple and easy, but requires more time to obtain photographs and field measurements. If the scale of the living environment needs to be reduced, the photographing and field measurement can be omitted.…”

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the aging transformation scale for elderly dementia patients

“…At present, the tool is widely used in aging transformation of elderly subjects in the United States [8] and has also been adapted for research of aged care services [9][10][11]. Weeks et al [12] believe that CASPAR adopts a cooperative approach to assess the needs of the home environment transformation of the elderly, which is simple and easy, but requires more time to obtain photographs and eld measurements. If the scale of the living environment needs to be reduced, the photographing and eld measurement can be omitted.…”