Home Assessments:

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Home Assessments

• February 18, 2004

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Home Sweet Home

• Home is more than just where you live
• Where we spend our lives, raise our families,
  grow old
• For people with disabilities ADLs can be far
  from routine

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Why do home assessments

• Because poor designs, clutter, or the lack of
  technology can increase stress and physical
  burden
• For appropriate recommendations (top 3)
• Replacing or adding fixtures/appliances/features
• Changing or adding to the structure, i.e.
  widening doorways
• Technology, i.e., movement sensor-activated light

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One example of a home assessment CASPAR
(Comprehensive Assessment and Solution Process
for Aging Residents)

• CASPAR is designed to help you
• Collect needed information about client and
  functional ability
• Measure features of the house which need to be
  changed
• Take descriptive photographs
• What you need
• 25 tape measure, camera and photo capacity.

• CASPAR is innovative and tested process for
  assessing homes and specifying modifications
• Based on the experience of EHLS (Extended Home
  Living Services)
• Designed for professionals to work with client
  and family throughout planning and implementation
  of home re-modification

http//www.ehls.com/about/about.html
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Information collected

• Contact information- client name, add, telephone
  number, email, fax, etc.
• Client information- from client or family
  regarding personal description, diagnosis,
  mobility aids, assistance received, clients
  sensory and motor abilities
• Problems experienced in the home- perceptions
  from client/family
• Client goals- client/family prioritized
• Description of the home- measurements and photos
  taken identified as priorities for change
• Recommendations- your recommendations about the
  client or home

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Once CASPAR is filled out, what is next?

• Send completed portion of CASPAR and photos to
  EHLS- EHLS will formulate a solution packet with
  the following
• Analysis of CASPAR
• Recommendations for best solutions and rationale
• Alternative solutions
• Architectural drawings, if needed
• Product specifications
• Comparative costs
• Installation specifications and drawings
• Vendor information

• How the work gets done is dependent on many
  variables (size of job, types of modifications,
  availability of skilled person in clients area)
• When seeking someone to do the work consider
  these factors
• Hiring a licensed and bonded contractor
• Getting estimates in writing
• Hiring a contractor who will guarantee his/her
  work and products
• Making any changes in writing
• Refraining from signing a certificate of
  completion or making final payments until the
  work id done
• Asking for references

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Resources for home assessments and home
modifications

• Changing needs, changing homes Adapting your
  home to fit you. American Occupational Therapy
  Foundation. Montgomery Lane. Bethesda, MD.
  301-652-2682 35.00
• Home Safety Guide for Older People Check it
  Out/ Fix It Up. Jon Pynoos and Evelyn Cohen.
  Serif Press, Inc. 4010 5th Road, North
  Arlington, Va 22203. 703-425-5222. 18.45
• Safety for Older Consumers. US Consumer Product
  Safety Commission. Washington, DC 20049.
  1-800-638-2772. Free
• The DoAble Renewable Home Making Your Home Fit
  Your Needs (12470). AARP Fulfillment. Consumer
  Affairs. 601 E. Street, NW. Washington, DC
  20049. 202-434-2277 Free (single copies)
• The National Resource Center on Supportive
  Housing and Home Modification. USC Andrus
  Gerontology Center. Los Angeles, Ca 90089-0191.
  213-740-1364. http//www.homemods.org E-mail
  homemods_at_usc.edu
• Center for Universal Design, NC State University.
  Raleigh, NC 27695-8613. 1-800-647-6777.
  http//www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/index.html