Evidence

The Home Modification Information Clearinghouse (HMinfo) is a national service that informs and guides developments in Home Modification Services. HMinfo reviews existing research and undertakes their own research, to build the evidence base for effective home modification. Research is translated into formats to provide Home Modification researchers and service providers, as well as older people, people with disability, and their carers, with the information they need for better home design and building practice.

The need for evidence

Effective Home Modifications have been shown to have the capacity to improve wellbeing and reduce the need for waged care services for people with disability. However, Home Modifications that do not meet the functional needs of the resident, do not comply with best building practices, are difficult to implement and maintain, or are not cost effective, can do more harm than good.

Issues with Home Modifications are complex and varied.

• The Home Modification skill base varies among service providers, including occupational therapists, builders and architects. Inexperience and lack of suitable information and resources can lead to poor work standards and inefficiency.
• The numerous design guidelines available can be contradictory, internally inconsistent and incomplete, which limits the ability of Home Modification providers to ensure consistency and achievement of the best outcomes from Home Modifications.
• Home Modification decisions depend on the skill of individual service providers in assessing the resident's functioning and care requirements, alongside their household and home environment. Inexperience and lack of suitable information and resources can lead to inappropriate home modification specification, especially if the resident has multiple disabilities, general frailty and mental impairments.
• Although most older people prefer living at home as they age, most existing housing stock (despite newer housing approaches such as 'Adaptable Housing' and 'Liveable Housing') is still not suitable for people with disability. People wanting to make their home safer and more suitable for their future needs, need access to information and resources to undertake DIY Home Modifications at the time of their choosing.
• Unsatisfactory Home Modifications can result in injury to residents, carers or care service workers, leading to service providers being faced with litigation.

HMinfo assists Home Modification service providers, and the increasing numbers of residents undertaking 'DIY Home Modifications' (either through the NDIS or self-funded), with unbiased, evidence-based information and resources, to guide the specification, design and construction of their Home Modifications.

HMinfo Research Projects

HMinfo undertakes research projects on Home Modification policy and practice, to address the need for evidence-based home modification knowledge. Research projects are initiated through consultation with internal and external stakeholders. HMinfo disseminates their research through varous types of research publications, to meet the differing information needs of consumers, industry and researchers.

HMinfo research activities consist of:

• Systematic Reviews of existing research evidence for the effectiveness of particular Home Modification design and building practices. These research projects are published as HMinfo Evidence Based Practice Reviews.
• Individually commissioned research projects on existing or emerging issues in home design and home modifications for older people, people with disability, and carers, incorporating methodologies such as systematic literature review, design analysis, review of policy and practice, and consumer and industry surveys and co-design. These research projects are published as HMinfo Occasional Papers.
• Review of research and industry literature, regulatory requirements, and industry practices, for a particular home modification topic. These research projects are published as HMinfo Summary Bulletins.
• Translation of research evidence for home modification design and building practices into concise information for consumers and industry. These research projects are published as HMinfo Consumer Factsheets, Industry Factsheets and Industry Checklists

The full range research publications produced by HMinfo is available in HMinfo Research Publications.

Specialist Review Panels

Before publication, HMinfo research documents are reviewed by Specialist Review Panels. Depending on the type of research document, the Panels may comprise: academic peer reviewers; expert practitioners in the fields of design, architecture, building, and occupational therapy; and consumer representatives for older people, people with disability, and carers.

This Specialist Review functions as an academic peer review of HMinfo research documents by researchers in the same field. In addition, the Specialist Review process adds industry expertise and experiences of people with disability, to ensure our industry and consumer focused publications are relevant and practical for their intended audience.

Other Sources of Evidence

In addition to undertaking its own research projects and publishing the resulting research on the HMinfo website, HMinfo builds the Home Modification evidence base by:

• publishing others’ relevant Home Modification research and technical documents, in Publications by Others
• reviewing relevant national and international research, and providing a comprehensive list of relevant literature in the Research Library
• providing a means for experienced home modification professionals and Occupational Therapists to share their knowledge and advice on established and proven Home Modification practice, through the Forums
• producing drawings and models of actual mobility devices, in the Enabling Blocks Library, and
• collecting and providing case studies of home modifications, in the Case Study Library.

The complete collection of Home Modification resources provided by HMinfo is available in Resources.