Project Title: Improving OT Home Safety Services Using Outcome Data

Research Team:
Chiu, T.
Oliver, R.
Goldsilver, P.
Gaya, A.

Research Partners:
COTA Health

Requests for home safety assessments have increased enormously over recent years. Home safety problems can be complex because of multiple health problems and complicated functional and environmental issues. Occupational therapists have extensively used the SAFER Tool, a clinical assessment tool developed in early 1990's, to conduct home safety assessments and interventions. With seed funding from the M-THAC Opportunities Fund in 2004, we were able to investigate how the SAFER Tool could be improved to better support the home and community practice.

The study results showed that in home care practice, we need a psychometrically sound and clinically relevant outcome measure of home safety assessment. The findings resulted in a series of studies of the development of the Safety Assessment of Functioning and the Environment for Rehabilitation - Health Outcome Measure and Evaluation (SAFER HOME).

The SAFER HOME, designed to measure changes following occupational therapy, has 74 items in the following areas: Living situation, Mobility, Environmental Hazards, Kitchen, Household, Eating, Personal Care, Bathroom & Toilet, Medication, Addiction & Abuse, Recreation, Communication & Scheduling, and Wandering. The SAFER HOME version 3 and its manual were published in 2006. Please visit COTA Health's website (www.cotahealth.ca) for more information.

Selected Presentations:

• Chiu T, Oliver R. Development of the SAFER-HOME v.3. The 14th World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress, Sydney, 23-28th July 2006. 

• Chiu T, Oliver R. Pilot Study of SAFER-HOME v.3: An occupational therapy home safety outcome measure. Canadian Home Care Association. December 10 - 12, 2006, Toronto, Ontario.

• Oliver R, Chiu T. A Home Safety Outcome Measure and Evaluation Tool, Version Three. GTA Rehab Network's Best Practices Day, March 2, 2007.

• A poster on this project was presented at the 2007 M-THAC/Team Symposium, Moving Care From Hospital To Community: Selected Policy and Service Implications Symposium.

Selected Publications:

• Chiu T, Oliver, R., Ascott, P., Choo, L.C., Davis, T., Gaya, A., Goldsilver, P., McWhirter, M. & Letts, L. (2006). Safety Assessment of Function and the Environment for Rehabilitation - Health Outcome Measurement and Evaluation (SAFER-HOME) Version 3 Manual. Toronto, Ont.: COTA Health.