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 HELPFUL TO LGBTQ OLDER ADULTS
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.
A fact sheet by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence with recommendations on how to make the home safer and more supportive, many of which are low or no cost.
This interactive resource of the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence includes photos of design features and products in actual homes that have been modified.
A searchable listing provided by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence of public and private home modification and repair service providers across the United States.
Developed by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence 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.
Check for Safety: A Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults
This Centers for Disease Control checklist, organized by area of the home, aims to help identify and eliminate fall hazards in the home.
HomeFit Guide
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.
Rebuilding Together Safe at Home Checklist
This checklist created by Rebuilding Together helps to identify fall hazards, home safety, and accessibility issues for the homeowner and family members.
Remodeling Today Guide: Design Ideas for the Kitchen and Bathroom
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.
Now, more than ever, it is important to consider the safety and support of homes. We are “safer at home” when it comes to the new Coronavirus, but our homes can have fall hazards such as throw rugs or poor lighting that could make it difficult or even dangerous for residents and guests of various ages to move about. We created a fact sheet “Home Modification Service Delivery During COVID-19” that contains tips for professionals and consumers to consider when making changes to the home during these challenging times.
This user-friendly fact sheet created by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence outlines easy steps to make low cost home modification solutions that can support independence.
A PDF by AARP on low to no cost suggestions for making the home safer.
The USDA Section 504 Home Repair Loans/ Grant Program provides 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.
The Office of Rural Health provides resources to older veterans in rural areas.
List of special grants for veterans needing home modification
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.
Providing injured, wounded, ill and/or aging Veterans with the resources they need to regain their mobility and independence, including home modifications.
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.
A list of Tribal Entities with home modification services and contact information from the National Resource Center on Native American Aging (NRCNAA) Service Locator.
A fact sheet on preventing falls among Native American elders developed by the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC). This resource is a copy righted document and its content, specifically the photographic portrait images belong to the AASTEC Tribal Injury Prevention Program.
Resources about Section 184 Loan Guarantee Program for borrowers, which is targeted toward Tribal Communities and may be used to rehabilitate homes.
An AARP article including a special needs checklist to encourage universal design
A fact sheet developed by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence that describes how vision loss increases fall risk and ways to reduce vision-related fall risks.
Tips from the Arthritis Foundation on home modifications to protect your joints and preserve your ability to do daily activities.
Tips from the American Occupational Therapy Association to help people with arthritis live life to its fullest and promote safety, including home modifications.
A booklet of considerations, strategies, and resources for adapting the home to support living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), developed by the National MS Society.
Home modification tips for caregivers to create a safer home environment for their loved ones from AARP.
A fact sheet from the American Occupational Therapy Association for adult children to help their parents maintain independence and live safely at home. It also describes how occupational therapists are uniquely qualified to help.
A story-like video created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Rural Health on what caregivers can do to increase home safety for their loved ones with dementia.
A brochure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for family caregivers on ways to reduce the risk of falling for their loved ones, including making minor home modifications.
A fact sheet developed by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence that lists ways to increase home safety, as well as common myths and realities about home modification. Consejos para hacer su hogar más seguro y mitos comunes y la realidad de modificaciones en el hogar.
A brochure in Spanish developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for older adults and their families that identifies fall hazards in the home and ways to address them.
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.
A fact sheet in Spanish about the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section 504 Loan and Grant Program that may be used for home repairs.
A fact sheet in Chinese developed by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence that lists ways to increase home safety, as well as common myths and realities about home modification.
A fact sheet in Chinese developed by developed by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
A fact sheet in Korean developed by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence that lists ways to increase home safety, as well as common myths and realities about home modification.
A fact sheet in Korean developed by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
A webinar from SAGE’s National Resource Center on LGBT Aging for LGBT consumers and providers. It features home safety tips and lower cost home modifications to help LGBT older adults safely age in place.
SAGE’s National LGBT Elder Housing Initiative provides access to information on elder LGBT housing rights and resources by state, advocates against housing discrimination, trains eldercare providers to be LGBT culturally competent, and helps builders 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.
