Can a Modified Environment Assessment Tool Guide Priorities for Minor Refurbishments at a Residential Aged Care Facility?

This pilot study aimed to examine EVOLVE UK extra care housing tool in an Australian residential aged care minor refurbishment context. The tool's content validity was established with 34 subcategories (I-CVI ≥0.75) and 612 statements (n = 509 I-CVI ≥0.75) relevant. A subsequent audit indicated high concordance (Rho-C = 0.750 to 0.997) within four experts' ratings of the care facility and correlation (Kendall's τ-statistic) between raters ranged from strong (0.5 to 0.9) to very strong (0.9 to 1.0). Lighting was the highest refurbishment element represented (50.54%). Assessment can inform funding, demonstrate standards compliance, and the components of physical environment refurbishments which support resident function.

The effectiveness of environment assessment tools to guide refurbishment of Australian residential aged care facilities: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To determine applicability of environment assessment tools in guiding minor refurbishments of Australian residential aged care facilities. METHOD: Studies conducted in residential aged care settings using assessment tools which address the physical environment were eligible for inclusion in a systematic review. Given these studies are limited, tools which have not yet been utilised in research settings were also included. Tools were analysed using a critical appraisal screen. RESULTS: Forty-three publications met the inclusion criteria. Ten environment assessment tools were identified, of which four addressed all seven minor refurbishment domains of lighting, colour and contrast, sound, flooring, furniture, signage and way finding. Only one had undergone reliability and validity testing. CONCLUSION: There are four tools which may be suitable to use for minor refurbishment of Australian residential aged care facilities. Data on their reliability, validity and quality are limited.