One of the principle environments older adults spend time in is their home, and, when surveyed, over 90% of older adults would like to age in place if given the choice (The Pew Center, 2014). Early in the course, we discussed Person-Environment Fit. The purpose of this assignment is to use the AARP Home Fit Guide to generate information about the residence of ideally an older relative or friend and determine the appropriateness of the Person-Environment Fit of the residence.
We will have in-class workshops to provide feedback for use in the final submission of the assignment. Please consult the syllabus for dates of the workshops and what tasks need to be done in advance of in-class workshops.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Please review the AARP (2015) the Home Fit Guide (PDF posted in CANVAS, also available at http://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/info-2014/aarp-home-fit-guide-aging-in-place.html)
- Please choose which home you are providing your analysis of and using as the example for the assignment. Take a detailed tour of the home with your Home Fit Guide handout. You might need a tape measure to get accurate measurements, and you are welcome to submit pictures to help supplement your written work for the assignment as appendices.
- Answer the following questions:
Person: What is the current status of the inhabitant? Please provide a few sentences about the resident(s), their age, length of time in residence, a sense of their future living arrangements (i.e. will they live in the same place for the next 10 years?), and anything else that may be important to know about them related to the course. Please also have the older adult indicate on the Person-Environment Fit graph where they think their environment falls within it.
Environment: Does the home meet any of the general criteria on pages 2-3 and room-by-room criteria on pages 4-11? Which does it meet? Where does it fall short? Also, please consider the criteria on pages 12-15 about universal design. Please go room-by-room again. What criteria are met and where does the home lack those features?
Fit: Having compared the home to the information provided in the home fit guide, please locate on the Person-Environment Fit graph where you think the person and their home are. Please critically analyze the patterns in the graph, noting any patterns between where the other person located their fit with your interpretation of the fit. Is it a good or bad home to age in? Will the person-environment fit change with challenges or stress with age? If the resident’s functional status was to change, would the fit remain appropriate? What are the top 2 priorities you would suggest to either get the home ready or keep it in tip-top shape?