Continuing Education for Occupational Therapists
Home Accessibility & Universal Design Courses
Our engaging video-based courses are designed to boost your knowledge of specific features, measurements, and products so you can confidently educate your clients on home modifications, universal design, assistive technology, and more. Taught by: Sarah Pruett, MOT, OTR/L, CAPS
Officially approved for 10 Contact Hours / 1.0 AOTA CEUs!
“These courses showed me change is possible and there’s hope for the future for more accessible homes, but also what we can do as OTs now to make a difference!” –Taylor, OT
Our Courses:
We provide six video-based online courses to help you understand home accessibility in-depth. These courses are self-paced with no time limits, ideal for practicing occupational therapists and OT students. Each is designed at an introductory level for AOTA, but experienced practitioners will benefit from the broad range of topics we cover. The learning outcomes and course outlines are further down this page.
Course 1: The State of Accessible Housing
Learn about the lack of accessible housing in the USA, how that affects people’s lives, and the challenges of developing more accessible homes.
Course 2: Design Guidelines for Universally Accessible Homes
Learn about the many necessary universal design features that make an entire home usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible.
“I never considered how the home environment impacts relationships with others and how that affects quality of life simply because someone isn’t independent at home.” –Lauren, OT
Course 3: Modifications for Non-Accessible Homes
Learn about various ways to change the home environment to better support accessibility needs right now and far into the future.
Course 4: Adaptations for Everyday Tasks
Learn about different assistive technology for activities of daily living. Life at home can be easier and safer with some new strategies and tools.
“I learned so much! Sometimes a simple adaptation can really make a difference. My clients really need this information to make their homes more welcoming and safer.” –Emily, OT
Course 5: Collaborative Teams for Optimal Outcomes
Learn about co-designing homes with people who have different perspectives about accessibility. No one knows it all. It’s important to work together.
Training: Addressing Home Accessibility in OT Treatment
Feel confident recommending various adaptations, modifications, or UD features and using the concepts for family education and discharge planning.
“One of the most impactful things for me was learning how body mechanics impact how people have to do things in their homes, which can lead to more injuries in the future.” –Kayla, OT
How to Earn CEUs:
1.0 AOTA CEUs / 10 Contact Hours
The UD Project is an AOTA-approved provider of professional development. PD activity approval ID#s 9785, 9992, 10017, 10026, and 10096. These distance learning—independent activities are collectively offered at 1.0 CEUs at an introductory educational level and cover these categories: foundational knowledge, OT service delivery, and professional issues. The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.
Accommodation Requests: Please click “Ask a Question” to email us. All videos are captioned with transcripts.
Completion Requirements:
You must meet these requirements to earn AOTA CEUs. We do not provide partial credit.
Our Guarantee:
If you sign up and discover our courses aren’t the best fit for you within 30 days, please reach out!
We’ll happily refund 100% of your money, for whatever reason, as long as CEUs haven’t been assigned.
Meet your instructor…
Sarah Pruett, MOT, OTR/L, CAPS
Sarah is a licensed Occupational Therapist who has specialized in physical rehabilitation since 2009 and environmental design since 2011. She has extensive knowledge about how the design of homes impacts everyday life in a wide range of situations.
Her husband Scott has a spinal cord injury, she’s part of Virginia’s Assistive Technology Advisory Council, and she has worked with several organizations in leadership roles to help them serve people with a wide range of impairments and disability types.
What you’ll learn and what you’ll be able to do with your new smarts…
Learning Outcomes & Course Outlines:
Course 1: The State of Accessible Housing
Learning Outcomes:
- Identify four factors contributing to the lack of accessible housing in communities across the USA.
- Recognize three ways that inaccessibility can have a negative impact on someone’s life.
- Recognize the key difference between universal design and home modifications to educate clients, other professionals, and community stakeholders.
- Identify three barriers to the adoption of universal design.
Course Outline:
Introduction
The Lack of Accessible Housing
How Life is Affected without Accessibility
Home Modifications vs. Universal Design
Barriers to Adoption of Universal Design
How Life is Affected with Universal Design
Conclusion
Course 2: Design Guidelines for Universally Accessible Homes
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognize the interaction between people, their home environment, and their activities as three equally important variables to consider in the design of any home, but especially for new construction.
- Recall three reasons why it’s important to consider 24 different areas of impairment that can be found on a population level when designing a universally accessible home.
- Identify two big reasons why there’s a difference between a home with universal design features and a universally designed home.
- Associate tasks that people do in ten different areas of a home with the design features and measurements that provide universal accessibility and ideal occupational performance.
- Recognize over 150 design elements necessary to make a home universally accessible, and why they are all important if a home is to be usable by a wide variety of people.
Course Outline:
Introduction
Design Guidelines: Parking and Entrances
Design Guidelines: Circulation
Design Guidelines: Kitchens
Design Guidelines: Bathrooms
Design Guidelines: Bedroom
Design Guidelines: Laundry Area
Design Guidelines: Additional Areas and Systems
UD Examples: Virtual Home Renders
Conclusion
Course 3: Modifications for Non-Accessible Homes
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognize three common types of homes that contribute to the inaccessibility of our current housing stock.
- Identify dozens of common barriers in the status quo of home design and understand possible modifications that provide a solution for increased occupational performance.
- Recognize the interaction between people, their home environment, and their activities as three equally important variables to consider before doing any home modifications.
- Relate possible home modification solutions to the ability to perform everyday activities well.
Course Outline:
Introduction
Modifications in the Home Environment
Conclusion
Course 4: Adaptations for Everyday Tasks
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognize the differences between universal design, home modifications, and adaptations as three unique but related approaches to increasing accessibility.
- Identify common barriers in the design of ten areas of the home and understand dozens of products or techniques that provide solutions for increased function.
- Identify dozens of adaptive products and techniques for safely and independently performing everyday activities throughout the home.
- Recognize how adaptive products and techniques can improve occupational performance when someone experiences one or more impairments.
Course Outline:
Course Introduction
Parking Areas
Route to Entrance and Entrances
Circulation: Moving Around the Home
Kitchens
Bathrooms
Bedrooms
Laundry
Additional Home Areas
Systems
Course Conclusion
Course 5: Collaborative Teams for Optimal Outcomes
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognize what a universally accessible home is and identify two reasons why collaboration in the design process is necessary to achieve universal accessibility.
- Identify three stakeholders who need to be collaborative team members for successful universal design outcomes.
- Recognize what interprofessional collaboration is and identify ten barriers to collaborating effectively.
- Identify five ways to be an agent of change and advocate for successful interprofessional collaboration.
Course Outline:
Introduction
Successful Outcomes: Universal Accessibility
Collaboration: Who Should Have a Seat at the Table
Collaboration: Current Status
Collaboration: Barriers and What To Do About Them
Our Design Process: One Solution to Collaboration
Conclusion
Training Course: Addressing Home Accessibility in OT Treatment
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognize the environmental factors as related to client factors to plan for home access interventions.
- Recognize an occupational therapist’s unique impact on a patient’s independence in preparing for discharge.
- Identify ways you can integrate product/technique adaptations, home modification recommendations, and/or universal design features to patients/families during treatment.
- Identify community resources that can be utilized in discharge recommendations to assist patients with the financial cost of home modifications.
Course Outline:
Get the CEU Bundle:
Our bundle includes all six courses to help you LEARN home accessibility in-depth while fulfilling continuing education education requirements.
OT TEAMS: If you’d like to use our content to TEACH your clients/patients and then SHARE access to the first five courses so they can continue learning after discharge (this is a LOT of info & treatment time is limited!), please refer us to your director or manager.
🔥 CEUs!
Individuals
$349
Save $176 ($525 value)
Teams
“I feel more prepared with these courses! My patients are often unaware of what’s available to them that can help them live more independent and safe lives.” –Brittany, OT