2. Conduct Interviews and Environmental Audits as Input for Tool Design

These are exploratory, formative methods to support tool development — not applications of the tool itself.

What’s being done:

• Qualitative interviews (60 total):

  • Participants share how home and neighborhood features help or hinder their ability to live independently.

  • Questions explore use of space, modifications made, safety concerns, and emotional/psychosocial impacts of spatial design.

  • Interviews are audio recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis.

    
    

• Environmental audits (observational):

  • Researchers collect raw data from participants’ homes (e.g., door widths, counter heights, layout features).

  • Photos taken (with participant approval) focus on physical features only.

  • These data serve as design references for identifying environmental facilitators or barriers.

Critical clarification:

• These audits and interviews are not guided by the final tool.

  
  

• Rather, they are research instruments to inform what the final tool should contain, how it should be structured, and how it might be validated later.