Readiness to Change and the Implementation of Home Modifications for Adults Over 60

Understanding people's readiness for change could be used as a predictor of an older adult's willingness to implement home modifications to improve aging in place and safety. Adults benefit from home modifications as they age but are often hesitant to make these changes despite support from occupational therapists and other healthcare initiatives. Some benefits of home modifications include reduced fall risk and depression, and increased independence in activities of daily living. The readiness to change scale has been used in multiple areas of older adult research to understand health behavior change including physical activity, driving cessation, and functional activities. We are therefore investigating what relationship lies between readiness to change scale, methods of delivering education around the importance of home modifications, and adoption of home modifications in older adults.

Subjects 60 or older who are living independently will be recruited through the investigator's network of clinical providers, the Vermont Older Adult Research Registry, and through various community organizations that address the needs of older adults.

Subjects will be contacted via phone or in-person. Inclusion/exclusion criteria will be discussed with those expressing an interest in the study. Subjects that meet the inclusion exclusion criteria will be invited to participate in the study.

• Obtaining consent for subjects via phone recruitment: For those subjects who express an interest via a phone call, a RedCap link will be sent via email. The RedCap link will have the consent form and at the end, a place for an electronic signature. This phone call and review of consent form will be conducted by the research team.
• Obtaining consent for subjects via in-person: For those subjects who express an interest via an in-person meeting, a member of the research team will review the consent form and a consent signature will be gathered after review of the study.

Once subjects consent to participate in the study, subjects will be randomly assigned using a random number generator to the face-to-face group or the online group.