Measuring Opportunities for Engaging in Meaningful Home-Based Activities in Housing Services for People With Psychiatric Disabilities: Development of the Perceived Meaning of Activity in Housing (PMA-H)

Abstract

There is a scarcity of instruments for assessing opportunities for residents with psychiatric disabilities to engage in meaningful home-based activities. We thus developed the Perceived Meaning of Activity in Housing (PMA-H), containing four subscales (activity opportunities, social interaction, developing as a person, and organization and planning). The aim of the study was to investigate the content validity, utility, internal consistency and concurrent and criterion validity of the PMA-H, as well as possible floor and ceiling effects. One hundred and fifty-five residents in supported housing (SH) and 111 in ordinary housing with support (OHS) completed the PMA-H. The SH group also competed the Community-Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES). A majority of the participants found the content of the PMA-H relevant, easy to complete, and the time for completion as reasonable. Internal consistency varied between 0.85 and 0.92 for the subscales. Logical associations with COPES indicated construct validity. The subscales social interaction and developing as a person could discriminate between the SH and OHS groups, whereas activity opportunities could not. No floor or ceiling effects were found. This study indicated adequate initial psychometric properties of the PMA-H. It can thus be used in housing settings to assess the residents' perceived opportunities for meaningful activity in the housing context.

Outcomes of the Active in My Home (AiMH) intervention for people with psychiatric disabilities in supported housing: A longitudinal pilot and feasibility study

“…The resident's opinion of the housing units' provision of meaningful activity was assessed by the perceived meaning in activity -housing (PMA-H) questionnaire (Eklund and Brunt, 2019a). A brief seven-item version was used, found to have good internal consistency and to show evidence of construct validity (Eklund and Brunt, 2019b).…”

Development of 7-Item Perceived Meaning of Activity in Housing (PMA-H-7) to Assess Opportunities for Meaningful Activities in the Supported Housing Context for People With Psychiatric Disabilities

“…The 48-item PMA-H is composed of four areas, addressing activity opportunities, social support, possibilities for personal development, and organization and information. These areas may form subscales, all of which have shown very good reliability and construct validity (Eklund & Brunt, 2017). The PMA-H items are formulated as statements with an initial phrase (“My housing contributes to that I…”) followed by items such as “get an opportunity to be active,” “feel that I belong in a group,” and “feel competent and good at something.”…”

“…Although the 48-item PMA-H comprises four areas of meaningful activity, Cronbach’s α for the scale as whole was .95 (Eklund & Brunt, 2017). This indicates the relevance of viewing the scale as reflecting a single construct.…”

“… Note . PMA-H = Perceived Meaning of Activity in Housing. a Refers to the original 48-item PMA-H (Eklund & Brunt, 2017). b CITCs for Sample 1/Sample 2. …”

“…This is to our knowledge the only questionnaire with this focus. It was developed to investigate how people residing in supported accommodation experience activity opportunities, social support, possibilities for personal development, and organization and information (Eklund & Brunt, 2017). It consists of 48 items addressing the aforementioned four areas.…”