A Proposal to Implement the Residential Environmental Impact Scale (REIS) into the PgDip (pre-reg) Occupational Therapy Curriculum at Queen Margaret University.

Abstract

As the older population of Scotland increases, more and more older people are choosing to age in an assisted living facility. This is partly due to the more "homelike" qualities of this type of housing such as privacy, but also because flexible care can be provided to enable older people to live in their own home. Therefore, it can be argued that it is important that assisted living facilities should provide environments that enhance older people's health and well-being: physically, emotionally and socially. Occupational Therapists have the knowledge and skills to assess people's home and provide advice as to which aspects of the environment can be changed to promote function and independence. Therefore it is important that occupational therapy assessment tools provide the basis to assess aspects of the home environment that is most meaningful to those who live in it. A literature review has been completed to establish whether current occupational therapy home assessments capture the meaning of home for older people living in an assisted living facility. It became evident that many tools currently available focus primarily on physical factors such as safety and accessibility and neglect aspects such as personalisation of the environment, social factors and control over decisions made about the home environment. Therefore, this project aims to propose the implementation of the Residential Environmental Impact Scale (REIS), an assessment tool that encompasses aspects of the environment beyond the physical features, into the occupational therapy student programme at Queen Margaret University. This will take place through a masterclass, during which students will have the opportunity to practice using the tool at an assisted living facility in Edinburgh.