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Identifying and validating housing adaptation client profiles – a mixed methods study

LUTHER, Anna
CHIATTI, Carlos
EKSTAM, Lisa
THORDARDOTTIR, Bjorg
MALMGREN FANGE, Agneta
February 2019

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Purpose: An increasing number of people will live with disabilities in their homes and consequently, the need for home-based interventions will increase. Housing adaptations (HAs) are modifications to the physical home environment with the purpose to enhance independence for a heterogeneous group of people. Increasing the knowledge of the characteristics of HA clients by exploring their heterogeneity, could facilitate the planning of interventions and allocation of resources. The purpose of this article was to identify and validate HA client profiles.

 

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study applied a mixed methods design to identify profiles of HA clients through cluster analysis confirmed by qualitative interview data. The sample consists of 241 HA clients in Sweden with a mean age of 75.1 years.

 

Results: A classification into five groups emerged as the one best describing the heterogeneity of characteristics among this sample of clients. Five client profiles were outlined based on their age and level of disability, and the variation between the profiles was confirmed through the qualitative interview data.

 

Conclusions: The identified client profiles are a step towards a better understanding of how home-based interventions could be delivered more effectively to groups of HA clients, based on their different characteristics.

The Application of ICF-based Functioning Data on Home Environment Adaptation for Persons with Disabilities

TONGSIRI, S
HAWSUTISIMA, K
2013

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Purpose: This study illustrates how the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains and qualifiers could be used to create functioning profiles of persons with disabilities in order to plan environmental changes. The outcome of the interventions can be measured by before-and-after comparisons of these profiles.

 

Method: 33 persons with disabilities (11 each from three provinces), with an average age of 43 years, were interviewed between November 2011 and May 2012. 67% of them were male. The functioning profiles of all the subjects were used as guidelines for home environment adaptations.

 

Results: The data helped to understand the limitations of persons with disabilities and identified the areas that needed enhancement to improve their functioning. Modification lay-outs were provided for all 33 persons with disabilities.

 

Conclusion and Implications: It was demonstrated that the ICF framework could help create functioning profiles to guide modifications in the home environment. Future studies should examine whether ICF can measure actual changes that occur after the modifications.

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