Promoting Independence for Wheelchair Users: The Role of Home Accommodations
By Allen, Susan, PhD; Resnik, Linda, PhD, PT, OCS; Roy, Jason, PhD ; Gerontologist, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 115-123Publication Date: February 2006
Study conducted to determine whether or not home accommodations influence the amount of human help provided to adults who use wheelchairs. Data was analyzed from the Adult Disability Follow-Back Survey, Phase II, of the Disability Supplement to the 1994-1995 National Health Interview Surveys. The study sample consisted of 899 adults who were age 18 or older who had used a wheelchair two weeks prior to the study. Home accommodations were related to the use of unpaid, but not paid help in the home. The presence of additional home accommodations was found to decrease the odds of having unpaid help by roughly 14 percent. For people who used wheelchairs who lived alone, the specific types of home accommodations were related to the hours of unpaid home help. Implications for these results on policies that reimburse for home accommodations are discussed.
Published by: Gerontological Society of America (Website:http://www.geron.org)
Gerontological Society of America (Web Site: http://www.geron.org )
