Use of the Home Safety Self-Assessment Tool (HSSAT) within Community Health Education to Improve Home Safety

ABSTRACT

This exploratory research examined the benefits of a health education program utilizing the Home Safety Self-Assessment Tool (HSSAT) to increase perceived knowledge of home safety, recognition of unsafe activities, ability to safely perform activities, and develop home safety plans of 47 older adults. Focus groups in two senior centers explored social workers' perspectives on use of the HSSAT in community practice. Results for the health education program found significant differences between reported knowledge of home safety (p = .02), ability to recognize unsafe activities (p = .01), safely perform activities (p = .04), and develop a safety plan (p = .002). Social workers identified home safety as a major concern and the HSSAT a promising assessment tool. Research has implications for reducing environmental fall risks.

KEYWORDS:

• Home safety
• home assessment
• health education
• occupational therapy

Acknowledgments

To: Tamara Avi-Itzhak, Sci D, York College-CUNY for guidance of occupational therapy graduate students in research skills, Elizabeth Vanner, PhD, Stony Brook University for statistical and methodological consultation, and to York College-CUNY occupational therapy students and graduates Sarbjit Kaur, Stephanie Pierre-Louis, Nerek Aminov, Derek McKissick, Yafa Iskhakova, Anna Ko, Olga Nozhkina, Olga Potapenkova, and Michaela Evelkin who helped advance this research and participated in quantitative and qualitative components of this study in partial fulfillment of their graduate degrees in occupational therapy.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

About the Authors

Beverly P. Horowitz, PhD, OTR/L, LMSW, BCG, FAOTA, Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy Department, York College-CUNY, Jamaica, New York, USA. Tiffany Almonte, OTR/L, Graduate of the Occupational Therapy Department, class of 2016, York College-CUNY, Jamaica, New York, USA. Andrea Vasil, OTR/L, Graduate of the Occupational Therapy Department, class of 2016, York College-CUNY, Jamaica, New York, USA.