Evaluation of the HUD Older Adults Home Modification Grant Program

Project Funder: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research (HUD PD&R)

Project Partner:Healthy Housing Solutions

Project Contact: Amanda Reddy, areddy@nchh.org, 443.539.4152.

Project Description

HUD PD&R contracted with Healthy Housing Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of NCHH, to conduct a three-year evaluation of the implementation and impact of the Older Adults Home Modification (OAHM) grant program administered by HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH). The OAHM program will provide funding to local organizations to make repairs and safety upgrades to the homes of low-income older adults, enabling them to remain in their homes safely and independently. The selection was made in late September 2020 but was formally announced today.

The evaluation has two major components: (1) an impact evaluation to determine how home modifications affect older adult residents’ health and physical function and (2) a process evaluation to assess challenges, barriers, and successes grantees encounter as they implement this important new grant program and older adult’s perspectives about the grant program process.

Healthy Housing Solutions’ team will use their experience evaluating projects (such as the  CAPABLE approach) to develop protocols and collect data to assess the processes employed by grantees to implement the program and the impact the project has on senior participants. The evaluation will focus on approximately 20 grantees and the impact of their activities on an expected 2,000 recipients. OAHM grantees will represent urban and rural communities and offer home modifications in both single- and multifamily homes. The evaluation will compare residents’ self-reported health outcomes and healthcare utilization pre- and post- renovation, as well as other measures, to determine whether their health changed after home modifications.

The evaluation team has developed evaluation protocols and data collection tools and trained grantees. Once the U.S. Office of Management and Budget has approved the project, evaluation data collection will begin.

Resources

This is a new study. We’ll post resources here as they become available.

Related Resources

NCHH Aging Gracefully in Place study

Johns Hopkins University’s Community Aging in Place—Advancing Better Living for Elders©

 

Latest page update: April 4, 2024.