Adapting for change

Housing adaptations make a vital contribution to supporting older people and disabled people to live safely, comfortably and independently at home. As well as being a key preventative measure in helping to reduce the number of emergency hospital admissions due to falls and other accidents, timely interventions can also support smooth hospital discharge, avoid unnecessary house moves and enable people to remain at home in their community.

Despite all these benefits, the provision of housing adaptations has historically been both complex and inconsistent. After commissioning a report into how the delivery of adaptations services could be improved, the Scottish Government put a wide range of its recommendations to the test in a pilot programme called ‘Adapting for Change’.

Our work on 'Adapting for Change' includes:

• practice examples, showcasing how Adapting for Change delivered improvements across five demonstration sites
• training in the identification of housing solutions and the assessment and provision of housing adaptations, developed for use by local Health and Social Care Partnerships, housing partners and third sector agencies
• other useful information/reports, including links to key publications, an external evaluation and guidance on responsibilities and funding for adaptations.