Home Evaluation Reflection 1

Home Evaluation Reflection- Casey Walker

Briefly describe the context of the home evaluation- where is it located, who lives

there, pertinent architecture i.e. stairs, landings, bathroom set-up

o This home evaluation was performed on the apartment/ condo home of a

78 year-old single woman, Margaret. She lives alone with her cat, Callie

in a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom condo. It is a single story condo with a gated

in patio area in the front. The front door opens into the living area &

directly back from the living area is the dining room, followed by the

kitchen. The laundry area is to the right of the kitchen in the back area of

the apartment. To the right of the living room is a hallway to the bedroom

and bathroom. The bathroom is small and contains the vanity area with

sink, 1 cabinet, 2 drawers, 1 medicine cabinet, a shower/bathtub

combination & toilet.

Briefly discuss your experiences and reflections after conducting the home

assessment.

o Conducting a home assessment is a very different situation than anything

I’ve been in before. It is strange to enter into someone’s home and

evaluate the way it is organized, what is in it, how they live, etc. The

evaluation seems invasive to the privacy of the client which calls for a

level of sensitivity and finesse when addressing some of the questions,

concerns, evaluation measures and subsequently making

recommendations. Furthermore, the important for controlling bias is

Home Evaluation Reflection 2

important. It is difficult to remove my own feelings and values for the way

that a household should be organized and set up. For instance, cleaning

is not something that Margaret values; therefore, the household is messy,

dirty, untidy, and commonly used cleaning items are not easily

accessible. This is something that would typically address but it is not

significant to Margaret. It was a challenge to manage my own emotions

and thoughts on the home assessment during the assessment since I

never want to be perceived as offensive or judgmental. Most

significantly, gearing recommendations for modifications is challenging to

ensure that they are client-centered and occupation based to increase

safety, especially when the most significant changes that should be made

to improve safety are things that are not meaningful to the client.

Discuss the findings of the home assessment and any pertinent recommendations (3-

5 pertinent recommendations) that you would make if this were an actual client you

were working with.

o If Margaret was a client that I was working with the most pertinent

recommendations would be to decrease the amount of clutter throughout

the apartment. The clutter creates safety risks because there are many

things that she can trip on, fall on, or knock over and break. There are

many fall risks throughout the apartment, especially area rugs, which I

would address to increase safety. Next, the apartment is not set up to be

energy efficient for Margaret’s daily occupations. I would modify the set

up and location for commonly used items, such as cooking tools and

Home Evaluation Reflection 3

grooming tools, to decrease the energy expenditure for each ADL and

IADL she encounters. Last, I would add DME & A/E to the bathroom. I

would put a raised toilet seat to improve the ease of toilet transfers, add

grab bars in the shower and by the toilet to assist with transfers and

provide increase safety in the bathroom, and add non-slip surfaces in the

bathtub to decrease the slippery nature of the floor and decrease the fall

risk during showering. All of these recommendations would be

supplemented with thorough client education on the importance and

benefit of these changes.

Discuss the clinical utility of the assessment and/or its relevance to occupational

therapy and occupation-based practice.

o This home assessment has fairly good clinical utility. It is thorough,

detailed, and clear which makes it particularly useful to a novice therapist.

There are many sections and the lengthiness and depth of evaluation

makes this a good tool to gear the assessment toward important things to

consider for a novice therapist. One of the downsides of the assessment

is its lengthiness and time to administer. In addition, the assessment is

dry and lacking occupation-based perspective. The occupation-based

practice and perspective is easily added by an experienced practitioner

using their clinical utility. This home assessment, along with

interviewing and occupational profile would provide a thorough

assessment and evaluation and make a great base to gear interventions

for therapy.