Home safety evaluation - getting it right

Purpose: Comprehensive and efficient home safety assessments are needed to provide quality interventions for community living. This study explores early career and experienced home evaluator perspectives on content and usability of HESTIA, a home safety assessment app. Method: Four early career and five experienced practitioners rated the HESTIA app using the uMARS usability evaluation and then participated in focus groups. Data were analysed using a key concept analytic approach. Results: Results include how to do home safety evaluations and how prompts and training help practitioners get it right. Early practitioner participants viewed the step-wise processes of the app as necessary whereas the experienced evaluators relied on own knowledge and experiences. Conclusions: Gobet and Chassy's TempT theory provides insight into the development of expertise in practice for rehabilitation professionals. The procedural complexities of assessment and ethical responsibility to provide competent, quality service to clients with disabilities are integrated into discussion of the development of professional intuition and ethical practice as guided by HESTIA.

Automated summary

This study explores early career and experienced home evaluator perspectives on content and usability of HESTIA, a home safety assessment app. The results show that early career practitioners found the step-wise processes of the app necessary, while experienced evaluators relied on their own knowledge and experiences.