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PROMOTING AGING IN PLACE BY ENHANCING ACCESS TO HOME MODIFICATIONS: CONSUMER AWARENESS STRATEGIES

With support from the Administration for Community Living (ACL), US Department of Health and Human Services

GOAL: to maximize older adults’ ability to age in place by increasing the availability and awareness of home modification at the local, state, and national levels

This web page is a sampling of educational resources focused on home modifications for older adults and caregivers and includes checklists, funding sources, and fact sheets. Click on the links below to jump to home modification materials created for different audiences. Stay tuned for new resources created by the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology as part of this ACL project!

This list is for informational purposes and individuals must use their own caution and judgment when using these resources.

GENERAL HOME MODIFICATION CONSUMER RESOURCES

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO LOW INCOME OLDER ADULTS

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO OLDER ADULTS IN RURAL AREAS

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO OLDER VETERANS

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO NATIVE AMERICAN ELDERS

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO ADULTS AGING WITH DISABILITIES

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO CAREGIVERS

RESOURCES TRANSLATED IN OTHER LANGUAGES

RESOURCES HELPLFUL TO LGBTQ OLDER ADULTS

GENERAL HOME MODIFICATION CONSUMER RESOURCES

 

  1. Modifying Your Home for Healthy Aging: 2019 Home for the Holidays Campaign
  • The 2019 Home for the Holidays campaign, a partnership of n4a and the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, aims to ensure that older adults and their caregivers are aware of home modification services and programs available to support them as they modify their homes for successful aging.
  1. Home Modification: Making Your Home Safer
  • A fact sheet by the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology with recommendations on how to make the home safer and more supportive, many of which are low or no cost.
  1. The Lifetime Home
  • This interactive resource of the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology includes photos of design features and products in actual homes that have been modified.
  1. National Directory of Home Modification and Repair Resources
  • A searchable listing provided by the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology of public and private home modification and repair service providers across the United States.
  1. Home Modification Funding Sources Inventory
  • Developed by the University of Southern California and the National Council on Aging, this extensive inventory of housing, lending, social, health care, tax, and non-profit funding sources can be used to support home assessment and/or modification and repairs.
  1. Checklists for The Home 

This Centers for Disease Control checklist, organized by area of the home, aims to help identify and eliminate fall hazards in the home.

The AARP HomeFit Guide was created to help people stay in the home they love by turning where they live into a “lifelong home,” suitable for themselves and anyone in their household.

This checklist helps to identify fall hazards, home safety, and accessibility issues for the homeowner and family members.

This guide, created by The Hartford Center for Mature Market Excellence, is organized into two sections – Kitchen and Bathroom – with a checklist of universal design features to consider for inclusion when remodeling the home.

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO LOW INCOME OLDER ADULTS

 

  1. Low-Cost Home Modifications: Make Your Home Work For You!
  • This user-friendly fact sheet outlines easy steps to make low cost home modification solutions that can support independence.
  1. HomeFit No-Cost Low-Cost Ideas
  • A PDF by AARP on low to no cost suggestions for making the home safer.
  1. Remaining in Your Home as You Age: Tips For Living Life To Its Fullest
  • A tip sheet on what older adults can do to age in place and the role of Occupational Therapists to help with those concerns, including a section on making home modifications on a limited budget.

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO OLDER ADULTS IN RURAL AREAS

 

  1. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Programs and Services
  • Section 504 Home Repair Loans/ Grants provide loans (up to $20,000) to very-low-income homeowners age 62 or older in rural areas to repair, improve, or modernize their homes or grants (up to $7,500) to remove health and safety hazards.
  1. Office of Rural Health, United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Providing sources to older veterans in rural areas.
  1. Rural Seniors and Their Homes
  • An overview of housing challenges faced by older adults living in rural areas, including housing quality and accessibility.

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO OLDER VETERANS

 

  1. Department of Veterans Affairs: Home Modification Programs
  • List of special grants for veterans needing home modification
  1. Military One Source
  • A collection of government and community resources that can help service members or Veterans with disabilities with financial assistance and technical advice on adapting your home to make it accessible.
  1. Gary Sinise Foundation
  • Providing injured, wounded, ill and/or aging Veterans with the resources they need to regain their mobility and independence, including home modifications.
  1. Home Modification Allocation for Underserved Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities in California
  • Includes a review of types and costs of the most prevalent of home modifications, funding streams at the federal and state levels, and an Appendix listing recommended home modifications for specified conditions related to military service.

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO NATIVE AMERICAN ELDERS

 

  1. Tribal Entities with Home Modification Services
  • A list of home modification services for various tribes in each state as well as the contact information of the director of such services
  1. Elder Fall Prevention for Native Americans
  • A fact sheet on preventing falls among Native Americans elders
  1. Section 184 Loan Guarantee Program
  • Resources about Section 184 Loan Guarantee Program for borrowers, which is targeted toward tribal communities and may be used to rehabilitate homes.

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO ADULTS AGING WITH DISABILITIES

 

  1. How Well Is Your Home Caring for You?
  • An AARP article including a special needs checklist to encourage universal design
  1. Vision Loss and Fall Risk: Understanding How Changes in Vision Increase the Risk of Falls
  • A fact sheet that describes how vision loss increases fall risk and ways to reduce vision-related fall risks.
  1. Adapting Your House When You Have Arthritis
  • Tips from the Arthritis Foundation on home modifications to protect your joints and preserve your ability to do daily activities.
  1. Living With Arthritis
  • Tips from the American Occupational Therapy Association to help people with arthritis live life to its fullest and promote safety, including home modifications.
  1. At Home with MS: Adapting Your Environment
  • Considerations and strategies for adapting the home to support an individual living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
  1. Home Modification Assistance Enacted State Legislation
  • A list created by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of state programs and tax credits that help finance accessibility improvements to homes.

RESOURCES HELPFUL TO CAREGIVERS

 

  1. Make Your Home Safe for Your Aging Parent
  • Tips for home modification for caregivers wanting to create a safer home environment for their loved ones
  1. Helping Your Older Parent Remain at Home: TIPS For Living Life To Its Fullest/
  • A tip sheet for adult children to help their parents age in place and the role of an OT (occupational therapist) to help with those specific concerns
  1. Office of Rural Health/Resources/Information and Support for In-Home Dementia Caregivers: Home Safety Video
  • A story-like video on what caregivers could do in regards to home safety to care for their loved ones with dementia
  1. Family Caregivers: Protect Your Loved Ones from Falling
  • A PDF fact sheet of Suggestions and ways caregivers can reduce the risk of falling for their loved ones including making minor home modifications

RESOURCES TRANSLATED INTO OTHER LANGUAGES

 

Spanish:

  1. Home Modification: Myths and Realities (Modificación del Hogar: Como Lograr Hacerlo) 
  • Consejos para hacer su hogar más seguro y mitos comunes y la realidad de modificaciones en el hogar.
  1. Check for Safety A Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults (Verifique la seguridad: Una lista de cotejo sobre prevención de caídas para adultos mayores)
  • A brochure in Spanish by the Centers for Disease Control identifying hazards and suggesting changes in the home to reduce the risk of falling
  1. Guía HomeFit
  • The AARP HomeFit Guide was created to help people stay in the home they love by turning where they live into a “lifelong home,” suitable for themselves and anyone in their household.
  1. USDA Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants: Section 504 (Préstamos y subsidios para la reparación de viviendas unifamiliares)
  • Fact sheet in Spanish on the USDA Section 504 Loan and Grant Program that may be used for home repairs

Chinese:

  1. Home Modification: Myths and Realities (家居改善: 如何辦妥) 
  • Tips to make your home safer and myths and realities of home modification by the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
  1. Safety Tips to Prevent Falls at Home ( 简体中文)
  • Tips in Chinese to prevent falls at home

Korean:

  1. Home Modification: Myths and Realities (주택 개조: 실행 방법)
  • Tips to make your home safer and myths and realities of home modification by the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. 
  1. Safety Tips to Prevent Falls at Home (한국어) 
  • This checklist covers safety tips to prevent falls at home.

RESOURCES HELPFUL FOR LGBTQ ELDERS

 

  1. Key Considerations in Home Safety and Modifications
  • A webinar for LGBT consumers and providers with home safety tips and inexpensive home modifications to assist LGBT older adults to safely age in place.
  1. National LGBT Housing Initiative
  • The National LGBT Elder Housing Initiative advocates against housing discrimination, trains eldercare providers to be LGBT culturally competent, provides education related to housing rights, and assists builders across the country with strategies to replicate LGBT-friendly housing.

This project was supported, in part, by grant number HHS-2018-ACL-AOA-HMOD0308 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

Information that the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Fall Prevention Center of Excellence publishes on its web site may contain references or cross references to other agencies, products, programs, or links. The USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Fall Prevention Center of Excellence does not endorse nor qualify any of the links. The listing of these products, programs, and services is for informational purposes and individuals must use their own caution and judgment when using these resources. USC does not hold any liability or personal interest in any of these agencies, products, or services.