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This study tested the safety benefits of home modifications such as handrails, grab rails, outside lighting, edging and more. The findings suggest that low-cost home modifications and repairs can be a means to reduce injury in the general population.

This 2008 report from the US Department of Health and Human Services outlines the use of home modifications by older adults.

This article determines the health gain, cost-utility and health equity impacts from home safety assessment and modification (HSAM) for reducing falls in older people. Findings include: the provision of a HSAM intervention produces considerable health gain, is highly cost-effective, and provides a promising initial approach among older people.

With the aim of reducing falls among older adults, this self-assessment consists of a home safety assesment checklist and solutions, illustrations of common fall hazards and solutions in ten indoor and outdoor areas of the home, assistive devices and other recommended products to prevent falls, and “how to” home improvement instructions. In addition to assessing for risk factors, the HSSAT aims to raise awareness. For example, some users may not be aware that clutter is a fall risk until they see it on the list. By reviewing each risk item, users may be able to match the risks listed with identified risks in their own home environment. The HSSAT has been translated into several languages.

This evidence based study illustrates the effect of home visits by Occupational Therapists on the prevention of falls. It shows that home modification and behavioral changes involving OTs can improve safety in the living environments by reducing the risk of falls.

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 report focuses on the housing needs of the elderly population. Most seniors wish to age in place but have to face the consequences of aging, and thus are restricted in their housing choices. The report examines the housing needs of America’s senior population, and urges the housing industry and public policy makers to respond with home modifications, supportive services, and housing alternatives. It also projects the demographic and economic profiles of the next generation of seniors and examines their likely housing choices, labor force participation, and lifestyles.

This 2012 report from the Urban Land Institute examines the housing market changes impacted by the baby boom generation and older as they make housing choices.

This study explores the ways in which people with dementia and their carers adapt their homes, including the barriers and use of available information. The most significant barriers to making home adaptations were lack of knowledge and maintaining familiarity. Having more information and making home modifications earlier might enable individuals with dementia to adjust to their adapted environment.

Impact of Home Modification Services on Ability in Everyday Life for People Aging with Disabilities. Petersson, Ingela; Lilja, Margareta; Hammel, Joy; Kottorp, Anders. This study examines the impact of home modifications on self-rated ability in everyday life from various aspects for people aging with disabilities.

This document, created by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, features recent remodeling trends and includes discussions and data about the potential for growth in the accessibility remodeling market for older persons and persons with disabilities.

The In-Home Occupational Performance Evaluation (I-HOPE) targets activities performed in the home that are essential for aging in place. The purpose is to measure the effects of an incompatibility between a person’s abilities and the environment or the “person-environment misfit” of older adults and their homes. The I-HOPE helps therapists measure client’s in-home activity performance and observe changes in person-environment fit before and after home modification interventions. It considers the client’s perspective and satisfaction while recognizing the role of the environment on performance. It is a multistep assessment that is conducted in the home of an individual. It takes approximately 60 minutes to conduct. A kit includes all necessary materials to conduct the assessment’s three steps: 1) An assessment of current in-home activities is conducted using a set of 44 cards of images depicting older adults participating in daily activities. An overall score for activity performance is then calculated; 2) Priority activities are identified for intervention and given a subjective performance and satisfaction score; 3) Performance-based rating of barriers’ influence on performance. The I-HOPE yields four sub-scores that can be used individually or as a profile of performance (activity, performance, satisfaction, total barrier severity).

This paper assesses the effects of interventions designed to reduce the incidence of falls in older people living in the community and finds that group and home-based exercise programs as well as home safety interventions (and more) reduce rate of falls and risk of falling.

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.

A series of booklets on lighting written in collaboration between AARP and the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The LRC developed three guidelines that address the needs of health care professionals, designers and builders, and the general public, including older adults and their families.

This paper investigates the longitudinal impacts of home modifications on the difficulty of performing everyday life tasks for people aging with disabilities, and whether other factors had any additional impacts. The results found that home modifications are effective in decreasing difficulty in performing everyday life tasks up to six months after the installation and to be effective they need to be installed in a timely fashion.

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 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.

he 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.

The University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology/homemods.org partnered with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) to compile and feature home modification and home safety programs falling in the categories of evidence-based, best practices, and innovative. Over 150 organizations from the aging, disability, housing, and health care sectors nationwide contributed to this inventory of home modification programs and practices.

A review of assessment tools for the home environment by the University of Southern California and the National Council on Aging.

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.

The new CDC publication, “The Potential to Reduce Falls and Avert Costs by Clinically Managing Fall Risk”, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine is the first to show that evidence-based fall prevention interventions delivered by U.S. healthcare providers have the ability to prevent thousands of falls, thereby improving the health and well-being of older Americans.

Pathways to Sustaining Fall Prevention Activities, Emily B. Nabors, MSG, Gretchen Alkema, PhD & Phoebe Liebig, PhD

This article presents preliminary data from Community Aging in Place, Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE), a model funded by the CMS Innovation Center and designed to overcome the functional and home environmental barriers of older adults. 

Home interventions, such as assessing environmental hazards and suggesting potential modifications, alongside technical trainings were found to be effective in reducing the risk of falls among seniors with a fall history.

Tips to stay safe in the community.

Exercise or physical therapy and vitamin D supplementation are suggested by the USPSTF to reduce falls for seniors who live in community settings

Shows data from Community Aging in place, Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE), a model designed to overcome the functional and home environmental barriers of older adults. Initial findings demonstrated that daily living limitations improved in 79% of the first 100 people who completed the intervention.

Discusses how HARP will implement home modification strategies throughout the aging services network as common practice for older adults in the effort to reduce falls Nationwide.

This study explores the effectiveness of three interventions (group based exercise, home hazard management, and vision improvement) on decreasing the risk of falls in older adults living at home.

This list was developed to identify fall hazards, home safety, and accessibility issues for the homeowner and family members. Home safety, fall prevention, and accessibility modification interventions are included on the reverse side of the list.

Recruitment of Fall Prevention Coalition Members, Katie Mack, MPA, MSG and Julie Overton, MSG/MHA

Grow SJ, Robertson MC, Campbell AJ, Clarke GA, Kerse NM. 2006 Oct;12(5):296 – 301.

Results of a 2015 survey conducted by the Hartford Center for Mature Market Excellence and University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology of Baby Boomers’ interest in universal design and home modification.

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.

This study examines the effectiveness of an occupational therapy home modification intervention program by examining differences in self-reported occupational performance before and after intervention in a population of community-dwelling older adults with disabilities. Overall, the mean scores on the satisfaction and performance subscales indicated an improvement in performance and satisfaction with occupational performance.

An overview of housing challenges faced by older adults living in rural areas, including housing quality and accessibility.

SAFER HOME v3 assesses a person’s ability to safely carry out functional activities in the home. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention and changes following an intervention. Using interview and observation of client participating in activities, SAFER HOME assesses 74 items around the home divided into 12 domains. Level of safety concern is rated on a 4- point (0–3) scale.

Strategic Planning for Coalitions, Katie Mack, MPA, MSG and Julie Overton, MSG/MHA

This bill summary explains the introduction of a plan that amends the Internal Revenue Code. It aims to grant adults aged 60 and over up to $30,000 in nonrefundable credit for modifications made on their home to help them live safely, independently, and comfortably.

This paper explores the impact of fall prevention programs and home modifications on falls and the performance of community dwelling older adults. The most impactful results were found for multifactorial programs including home evaluations and modifications, exercise, education, medication checks and assistive technology.

Six reviews/inquiries into housing adaptations/home modifications processes occurred in Wales between 2004 and 2015. One resulted in the removal of the means test for children’s Disabled Facilities Grants. This research investigated families’ and professionals’ experiences of the adaptations/home modification process to gain an understanding of their views and experiences.

Muhammad Hibatullah Romli1,2, Lynette Mackenzie1, Maw Pin Tan3, Meryl Lovarini1, Lindy Clemson1

The HE instrument assesses a person’s functional limitations and the home environment for physical barriers that may threaten accessibility. It includes a three-step assessment and analysis procedure: 1) a dichotomous assessment of a person’s functional capacity (12 items on functional limitations and two items on dependence on mobility devices); 2) a dichotomous assessment of the physical environmental barriers in the home and the close exterior surroundings (161 items); 3) the calculation of an overall magnitude of accessibility problems score. Physical environmental barriers can also be rank-ordered based on their contribution to the total accessibility problems score (Iwarsson et al. 2012).

This article discusses the strain on caregivers due to home modification interventions and how to better support caregiver populations. The goal is to modify these projects in order to adapt home modification interventions to better support informal caregivers.

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.

This helpful directory provides information to aging network, services, and housing providers, and consumers about programs that modify and repair homes for elder people.

A discussion of the prevalence of falls among seniors 85 years and older, and the acute and preventative services required

This CDC publication is the first to show that evidence-based fall prevention interventions delivered by U.S. healthcare providers have the ability to prevent thousands of falls, thereby improving the health and well-being of older Americans.