Occupational Therapy support for Decent Homes and refurbishment programmes

Refurbishment programmes run to a schedule. Occupational Therapy input that arrives late, or arrives specifying a product nobody can source, costs the programme time it does not have. Inclusion works with registered providers, project teams and contractors to get the assessment and specification right at the point the programme needs them.

This post sets out what that involves and how we work alongside a delivery team.

Finding out which tenants need an assessment

On a large programme the first question is which properties need OT input at all. Assessing everyone is not practical, and waiting for tenants to raise problems means finding them out at the worst point, once work has started.

We run population needs questionnaires across the tenant group to identify the households where an assessment would make a difference. That produces a worked list at the planning stage rather than a series of interruptions during delivery.

From there the OT assesses the tenant in their home, looking at how they manage day to day and what the property is doing to help or hinder that. Bathrooms and kitchens account for most of what comes out of these assessments.

Specification without product bias

Inclusion has no affiliation with any manufacturer or supplier. That matters more on a refurbishment programme than it might sound.

Our recommendations are written as a specification of need rather than a demand for a named product. You can then procure against that specification and choose close technical equivalents from the wider market, which keeps your procurement economies intact. Where a team wants a specific product named, we will name one, but the specification is the thing we are giving you and the product is an example of something that meets it.

We are also happy to look at products a contractor already intends to buy and say whether they meet the assessed need, before an order goes in rather than after.

Working alongside the delivery team

Programmes move, and questions come up on site that cannot wait for a report. We provide a named contact for each programme so there is a single point of contact rather than a general number, and our OTs are available by phone to contractors working on site.

We can also offer bespoke services if needed such as attending tenant meetings, including evening ones, to answer detailed questions about adaptation options directly. Tenants ask sharper questions than project plans anticipate, and having an OT in the room to answer them tends to take the heat out of the process for everyone.

Standardising installations

Where a programme installs the same adaptations across many properties, standardising the installation specification makes the work quicker to deliver and considerably easier to maintain afterwards. It also means a repairs team turning up in five years time finds something they recognise.

We advise on where standardisation is safe and where an individual property or tenant genuinely needs something different, which is the balance these programmes turn on.

Legacy and maintenance

Adaptations installed today become somebody’s maintenance liability tomorrow. We factor in how a recommendation will be serviced, what happens when a tenancy changes, and whether a fitting will still be appropriate as a tenant’s needs change.

Who we work with

Inclusion has worked on Decent Homes modifications, new build and decant programmes with registered providers, contractors and project teams for a number of years. Housing, equipment and adaptations are a core part of what we do rather than a sideline, and the same team supports our work with local authority OT teams and our adult Occupational Therapy service.

Where individual tenants need funding for adaptations outside a programme, the Disabled Facilities Grant process is usually the route, and we assess and report for those applications too.

Getting us involved

The most useful time to bring an OT into a programme is while it is still being planned, when the assessments can shape the schedule rather than disrupt it.

If you have a programme coming up, talk to our housing team and we will explain how we would work with you and what it would cost.