The 'fight' for adaptations: Exploring the drivers and barriers to implementing home and environment modifications that support healthy ageing

Abstract

Purpose – The ageing and disabled population is fast growing, which emphasises the need to effectively modify current homes and environments to support healthy ageing and increasingly diverse health needs. This paper brings together findings and analyses from three adaptations-focused projects, drawing on perspectives from key stakeholders alongside the lived experiences of service users acquiring adaptations. Design/Methodology/Approach – Following an Adaptations Framework developed from interviews and focus groups with older people and key stakeholders, the paper discusses barriers experienced by older people and front-line workers in receiving and delivering adaptations through all stages of the process. Findings – This paper reveals how experiences around adaptations might diverge with unseen, hidden investment and need among individuals, and how conceptual and cost-focused evidence gaps impact wider understandings of adaptations delivery. In so doing, this paper highlights how the adaptations process is perceived as a ‘fight’ that does not work smoothly for either those delivering or receiving adaptations services. Policy Implications – The paper suggests a systematic failure such that the adaptations process needs to be rehauled, reset and prioritised within social and public policy if the housing, health and social care sectors are to support healthy ageing and prepare for the future ageing population. Originality/Value – The paper brings together insights from key stakeholders alongside service users’ experiences of adaptations to highlight key policy drivers and barriers to accessing and delivering adaptations.