HOUSING FOR PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY: EVIDENCE REVIEW OF POST-OCCUPANCY EVALUATION (POE) INSTRUMENTS

Prepared by Cathryn Grant

Authors: Alex Wilkinson, Dr. Nicola Brackertz, Dr. Michael Fotheringham from AHURI and Dr. Di Winkler from the Summer Foundation Date: February 2018

STUDY AIMS:

To review and analyse POE instruments suited to assessing dwellings for people with a disability that require a high level of physical support. This is to provide guidance for clients, building designers, builders and facilities managers on how to evaluate and improve the design and suitability of their housing.

METHODS: RECOMMENDATIONS:

One hundred and seventy-two POEs were initially identified out of these 55 were analysed further and then 10 selected for in-depth review. The POEs were reviewed with regards to their: • reliability, • validity, • conciseness, • sensitivity, • clinical utility (user friendliness), • data collection approaches, • suitability for use with a range people experiencing different types disability, what types of housing it was suitable for (shared accommodation, home modifications) and; • alignment with the Summer Foundation vision (enabling social inclusion, facilitation of physical independence, home-like, high amenity and affordability)

RESULTS:

Many of the POEs focused on housing for elderly people. Some just focused on specific types of housing such as nursing homes or shared accommodation and others on home modifications. There were varying degrees of validity, reliability and internal consistency. Only one instrument assessed cost-effectiveness and none met all of the Summer Foundation vision criteria. As there was no single tool that covered all the above parameters well; the conclusion is that multiple tools or a bespoke tool is required. Some of the recommendations include:

a combined approach whereby both technical performance of the built environment and user experience is undertaken

instruments should be easy to use and not arduous for those involved and be suitable for a range of disabilities

the development of a new POE instrument should involve people with a high level of physical support – the tenants – and people that will be administering the instrument.