The home environment and disability-related outcomes in aging individuals: what is the empirical evidence?
OBJECTIVE
Building on the disablement process model and the concept of person-environment fit (p-e fit), this review article examines 2 critical questions concerning the role of home environments: (a) What is the recent evidence supporting a relationship between home environments and disability-related outcomes? and (b) What is the recent evidence regarding the effects of home modifications on disability-related outcomes?


METHODS
Using computerized and manual search, we identified relevant peer-reviewed original publications and review articles published between January 1, 1997, and August 31, 2006. For Research Question 1, 25 original investigations and for Research Question 2, 29 original investigations and 10 review articles were identified.


RESULTS
For Research Question 1, evidence for a relationship between home environments and disability-related outcomes for older adults exists but is limited by cross-sectional designs and poor research quality. For Research Question 2, evidence based on randomized controlled trials shows that improving home environments enhances functional ability outcomes but not so much falls-related outcomes. Some evidence also exists that studies using a p-e fit perspective result in more supportive findings than studies that do not use this framework.


CONCLUSIONS
Considerable evidence exists that supports the role of home environments in the disablement process, but there are also inconsistencies in findings across studies. Future research should optimize psychometric properties of home environment assessment tools and explore the role of both objective characteristics and perceived attributions of home environments to understand person-environment dynamics and their impact on disability-related outcomes in old age.
Institute of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Bergheimer Strasse, Heidelberg, Baden-Württenberg, Germany. h.w.wahl@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de
Hans-Werner
HW
Wahl
Agneta
A
Fänge
Frank
F
Oswald
Laura N
LN
Gitlin
Susanne
S
Iwarsson
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings; D008875:Middle Aged