This traditional living room may work well for its occupants or it may need some help. The client can shed important light on how it is working or what can be improved, including surfaces, pathways, and lighting.
Getting started
As Certified Aging In Place Specialists who want to help our clients do well in their living space, there are essentially two approaches to use. One involves evaluating the living space itself for safety and other concerns. The other focuses on the individual and what they can do effectively within their space. Of course, they interrelate, so a third emphasis would be a combination of the two.
Some homes and the individuals occupying them are going to be easier to evaluate and review than others. Some clients are going to share their concerns with us, and some may be more reserved about having such discussions or even allowing us access to their space. Family members or caregivers can help us in such instances.
We are going to need to do a physical review and examination of the living space, and we are going to need an interview with the client. Then we can formulate our conclusions and strategy for moving forward.
Relying on input from the client
While we have many different types and styles of forms and checklists available to use (https://www.stevehoffacker.com/product/evaluating-assessments-aging-in-place/), the best and easiest way to get started is by meeting with our clients and having a conversation with them. Some are going to be more expressive and forthcoming with us than others, but it’s their home, and they should know what concerns them about living in it.
By asking some open-ended, conversational questions, we want our clients to reveal what their concerns are so we can make some suggestions or formulate a strategy to help them.
The nice thing about having our clients tell us what their concerns are is that there is no subjectivity on our part. It merely is the client voicing their opinion, and we don’t need to be concerned that our experiences are affecting the analysis. There are no right or wrong answers or anything that is more or less important in the initial analysis. Then, we can prioritize from there and formulate a budget and scope.
