Restoring and sustaining home: the impact of home modifications on the meaning of home for older people

Abstract

The importance of a supportive home environment to successful ageing in place has been well established in the literature with home modifications increasingly acknowledged as a way of removing barriers to function and independence for older people. Home modification literature and practice primarily focuses on the home environment as a physical space in which to perform tasks and on the impact of modification on competencies and function. Home, however, is much more than a physical environment. Within a transactive framework, people and places are seen as engaged in a dynamic, reciprocal relationship through which home becomes a place of significant personal meaning. Through a qualitative framework, this study examines the experience of older people living in the community who are recipients of a home modification service. It explores the impact of modifying the physical environment on their experience of home as a place of meaning and provides insight into how home modifications can strengthen home as place of personal and social meaning as well as improving safety and comfort for the older person at home.