CAPABLE (Community Aging in Place Advancing Better Living for Elders) is a client-centered home-based intervention to allow older adults to remain in their homes longer. The program includes an occupational therapist intervention, a person-centered nurse intervention, home safety and access to handy worker services. Each service works with and builds on the others by increasing the person’s capacity to function at home. This can decrease hospitalization and nursing home stays by improving medication management, problem-solving ability, strength, balance, mobility, nutrition, and home safety, while decreasing isolation, depression and fall risk.
Deeper dive
CAPABLE addresses both function and health care expenses. In addition to integrating services, the four to five-month program works with the older adult to set goals and direct action plans that change behaviors to improve health, independence and safety.
CAPABLE is approved by the National Council on Aging as an evidence-based fall prevention program. It has been tested in multiple small and large trials each showing a benefit towards better function and lower hospitalization rates. The larger studies have also showed decreased nursing home admission. CAPABLE is recognized by federal and state agencies as an effective program in improving health and decreasing costs among older adults.
To qualify, adults must be 60 or older, although some health systems are including people as young as 50; are cognitively intact or have only mild cognitive impairment to be able to participate in the brainstorming and action planning process; have some or a lot of difficulty in performing activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing, dressing, grooming or walking across a small room. This could apply to adults at any age with ADL difficulty.