The psychosocial aspects of older adults’ decision making process in the adoption of home modifications: Development of a research proposal for grant funding

This project presents a research grant proposal based on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Scheme: 2016 1st Live Pilot guidelines. The proposed study aims to have a comprehensive understanding of the objective and subjective factors impacting older adults’ decision making process to implement home modifications (HMs). The study will utilize a mixed methods research approach. Community-dwelling older adults from urban and rural British Columbia will take part in surveys and home environment assessments using the Housing Enabler (North American version) tool. A sub-set of participants will receive HM recommendations and take part in semi-structured interviews about their decision to adopt and implement HMs. The study findings will provide conceptual and substantive insights into the various factors that influence the decision making process. Additionally, the findings will inform professionals in occupational therapy and housing policy on the influencing factors and multidimensional characteristics of older adults’ decision making process.