Interprofessional Client-Centered Reasoning Processes in Home Modification Practice

ABSTRACT

We investigated the complex reasoning processes of professional home evaluators involved with home safety assessments. Twenty evaluators with varied professional training engaged in in-depth qualitative interviews. Two primary themes emerged: integrating expertise and tailoring interventions. Within these themes, evaluators expressed differences and similarities in how they obtained information, developed interventions, and addressed professional-client interactive reasoning as they identified needs. We propose an adapted ecological model to describe best practices for personalizing home modifications through an interprofessional lens. Differences among professional home evaluators reveal unique, yet overlapping reasoning processes. Interprofessional teams may better meet the holistic needs of home modification consumers.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• independent living
• Decision making
• Home environment

Acknowledgments

We thank our professional home evaluator participants and Lauren R. Estell for her artistic contribution to our adapted ecological model.

Funding

The results presented in this article are part of a US federally funded grant project for the development of HESTIA. The HESTIA Project is supported in part by the U.S. Department of HHS/ACL, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), grant number 90IF0083-01-00.