An environmental audit tool suitable for use in homelike facilities for people with dementia.

AIM: To compare an assessment tool developed for use on contemporary homelike environments, the Environmental Audit Tool (EAT), with the gold standard assessments for residential facilities for people with dementia, the Special Care Unit Environmental Quality Scale (SCUEQS) and the global score of the Therapeutic Environment Screening Survey for Nursing Homes (TESS-NH).
METHOD: Thirty facilities were assessed with the EAT and the TESS-NH by two raters working independently.
RESULTS: The average absolute agreement on individual items using the EAT was 86.8% and 84.4% for the TESS-NH. Interrater reliability of the SCUEQS was 0.84, the TESS-NH global score 0.93 and the EAT final score 0.97. The EAT was described by raters as easier and slightly quicker to use.
CONCLUSION: The EAT offers a valid and reliable alternative to the TESS-NH and appears to be more suitable for the assessment of the less institutional facilities favoured by Australian aged care services. © HammondCare, 2010; Journal compilation