Evaluating the safe living guide: a home hazard checklist for seniors.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility and reliability of a home hazard checklist published in Health Canada, The Safe Living Guide: A Guide to Home Safety for Seniors (2003).


METHODS
76 community-dwelling seniors evaluated the guide, and inter-rater reliability was determined through comparison of ratings of seniors and experts.


RESULTS
Findings revealed that seniors found The Safe Living Guide useful in helping them identify hazards. On the majority of items in the checklist, agreement between raters was moderate to almost perfect, with an overall reliability of 0.509.


CONCLUSIONS
This guide can be used with confidence by seniors and community-based caregivers for evaluating hazards and identifying opportunities in order to support and prolong safe, independent living in the community.
Sorcinelli
Andrea
A
School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON. andreasorcinelli@hotmail.com
Shaw
Lynn
L
Freeman
Andrew
A
Cooper
Kim
K
D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety / Q000592:standards*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires