Home modifications are defined as environmental interventions aiming to support activity performance in the home. More specifically, home modifications often are changes made to the home environment to help people with functional
disability
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...
or impairment to be more independent and safe in their own homes and reduce any risk of injury to themselves or their
caregivers
A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...
. Examples of home modifications include installing ramps and rails, altering kitchen and bathroom areas (relocating switches and lowering bench heights), installing emergency alarms.
There are a number of words in common use that are confused with home modifications. For example, home modification is more than
home improvement
The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...
, home renovation or remodelling; those three terms refer to changes made to housing for purposes other than disability.
Other more closely related terms that are interchanged with home modifications in literature include combinations of home/housing/environment/residential coupled with modification/adaptation/intervention. Each of these terms has a nuanced meaning analysed in further detail by Bridge (2006). However these terms have in common a context of housing, health and care for people with disability or impairment.
Home modifications directly impact the accessibility to and within a home and are considered one aspect of the complex relationship between housing and health.
Home modifications are also the subject of ongoing public health and economics research because of their potential to support
aging in place
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines aging in place as "the ability to live in one's own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level".
Environmental gerontology
Re ...
and substitute for
caregiving
A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...
. In addition to aging in place and caregiving, there is some evidence that home modifications can reduce falls in the home.
[http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/74700/E82552.pdf ]
References
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Accessible building
Architectural design
Caregiving