Study reinforces the value of home modifications

I came across this data at Cynthia Lebrock's website. Cynthia does us all the favor of reviewing a lot of academic articles and providing a synopsis of the findings. The data came from a longitudinal (meaning data collected and tracked over a period of time) study by the university of Michigan. Researcher Kyung Sook June showed that while disabilities increased the likelihood that the person will relocate into an institutional setting, the presence of basic home modifications like shower bars, ramps, lifts, etc. decreased that likelihood. Interestingly, the presence of a caregiver did not decrease the likelihood of relocation to an institutional setting. Since this data set was collected a decade ago, a reasonable hypothesis would be that improved product and design solutions and increased acceptance of home modifications would make these findings all the more true today.