Home Modifications Certificate Coursefor OTs, OTAs, PTs & PTAs
Learn to Assess, Document, Fund & Build Safer Homes for Aging Adults
Self-Paced CE Taught by Kara Welke, OTD, OTR/L, CLT
Kara Welkeheadshot
A $745.00 value
- 5 on-demand modules — instant access
- Bonus CE content: brain health & dementia
- Quarterly live Q&A calls & private forum
A client comes home after a hip fracture — a 6-inch threshold at the door, a tub she can’t step into, a hallway too tight for the walker.
Seeing that a home isn’t safe is the easy part.
But which fixes matter most right now, which she’ll need as her mobility declines, whether Medicare will pay, and whether that wall can even hold a grab bar? Three weeks later she’s back in the hospital, then in a facility. The modifications that would have kept her home never happened.
Home modification isn’t just spotting hazards. It’s matching the right fix to the client’s condition today — and where it’s heading — then getting it documented, funded, and actually built. School didn’t teach that, and standard CE leaves the money and the construction for you to figure out alone.
This training closes that gap end to end: from reading the person-environment fit, to the seven ways home modifications actually get paid for, to enough construction to know what’s buildable before you recommend it — taught by Kara Welke, OTD, OTR/L, who grew a single mobile practice into the first therapy practice recognized as age-friendly.
You already have the clinical eye. This course gives you the funding map, the documentation, and the construction vocabulary to turn what you see into work that gets done — and paid.
Most Therapists Know One Way to Get Paid for Home Modifications. You’ll Walk Away With All Seven.
But getting paid is only half the battle. You’ll also get the construction fluency to know what’s actually buildable and the documentation to make it hold up — so your recommendations get installed, not shelved. Taught by Kara Welke, OTD, OTR/L.
By the time you finish, you’ll be able to…
Pin down exactly when Medicare Part B covers a home safety assessment — and when it can’t.
Read framing, joists, and blocking well enough to know a grab bar will hold the 250 lbs the code requires.
Fund a project through workers’ comp, Medicaid waivers, HUD grants, and four more sources most therapists never touch.
Five modules.
From the first assessment to the finished build.
Creating Ideal Living Environments
Most home assessments focus on the house and miss the person. You’ll learn “Housing Fit” and the shift from aging in place to aging in the right place — weighing physical space, social support, healthcare access, affordability, and cultural preferences — so a poor fit doesn’t quietly erode the independence you were hired to protect.
The Research That Backs Your Recommendations
Walk into any referral conversation with the evidence in hand. You’ll be able to cite how therapist-led home modifications reduce falls and injuries, improve daily function, and delay higher-level care — drawing on the OTIS randomized trial, Stark’s systematic review, and the CAPABLE studies — and make the economic case to physicians, families, and payers.
The Seven Ways to Get Paid (Medicare to Attorneys)
The question every therapist is afraid to ask, answered without the hand-waving. The exact point where Medicare Part B coverage stops and private pay begins, when an ABN protects you, and a behind-the-scenes look at how CAPABLE, HUD grants, Medicaid 1915(c) waivers, workers’ comp, and attorney settlements actually pay — with candid pros and cons so you can pick the model that fits your practice.
Documentation That Gets Approved the First Time
A denied claim usually isn’t a coverage problem — it’s a documentation problem. You’ll choose the right assessment tool for the client and payer, tie every adaptation to function and medical necessity the way Medicare requires, and write it up so it clears review the first time instead of bouncing back.
Enough Construction to Recommend With Authority
You know how to modify a task — but is that wall load-bearing before you suggest removing it? Decode studs, joists, blocking, and “16 inches on center.” Learn why a grab bar fails in fiberglass without backing, what a curbless shower really needs, the 60-inch turning radius for a wheelchair, and how to brief a contractor so your plan gets built and lasts.
Take Action Now:
Brain Health, Cognitive Impairment &
Dementia Care
Loneliness and social isolation raise dementia risk by roughly 50% (U.S. Surgeon General, 2023), and a slowing gait can signal cognitive decline years before memory does. This bonus session gives you a proactive playbook for real cases — spotting early signs, using dual-task interventions, supporting overwhelmed caregivers, and adapting the home for clients with cognitive impairment. Yours at no extra cost.
Everything included with your enrollment:
- 5 on-demand modules — full, recorded sessions you watch on your own schedule
- Quarterly live Q&A calls with Kara and hand-selected experts
- BONUS module — Take Action Now: a proactive approach to brain health and dementia care
- Earn up to 7.5 CE hours included in tuition
- Billing flowchart & payment-model decision tools
- Printable worksheets, handouts & assessment tools for use with clients
- Reflection guides & case studies to apply each session
- Private course portal & member forum — network and troubleshoot with peers
- Unlimited Access — revisit every module anytime
One enrollment. Everything unlocks the moment you join.
No rigid schedule — all five modules, the dementia-care bonus, the billing flowchart, and your live-call access open the moment you join, for just $299.99.
Get Instant AccessEnroll with confidence — every PESI course is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
When you hit a wall, you ask an expert
— not Google
Self-paced doesn’t mean on your own. Live Q&A calls run every quarter with Kara and hand-selected faculty. Bring the reimbursement you can’t classify, the load-bearing wall you’re unsure about, or the family that won’t agree to the ramp — and leave the call with an answer you can act on Monday. Can’t make it live? Every call is recorded and added to your library.
Your live Q&A schedule
One hour each quarter · Tuesdays, 6:00–7:00 PM Central. Can’t make it live? Every call is recorded and added to your library.
You won’t be the only therapist figuring this out
Your enrollment includes a private course portal — the home base for every module, worksheet, and recording, plus a members-only forum where you and your fellow OTs, OTAs, PTs, and PTAs work through the hard cases together between live calls.
- Post a case, get answers fast. A denied claim to untangle, a wall you’re unsure about, a contractor bid that looks off — put it in front of people who’ve solved it before.
- Trade what’s working. The billing language that got approved, the assessment template worth stealing, the grant a peer just landed.
- Search every past thread. Odds are the question you have has already been asked and answered — the archive is yours to mine.
- Build a referral network. Connect with therapists doing this work across the country, not just for the length of a course but for the long run.
It’s the difference between learning this alone and learning it with colleagues who have your back.
The printables you’ll walk away with
Done-for-you worksheets, assessment tools, and checklists — the kind you’ll actually pull up in a client’s living room. Here’s a sneak peek of some of the tools that are waiting in your portal.
Plus reflection guides, case studies, and client-ready handouts for every module.
Stop turning down the work you’re best suited for
The clinical eye is already yours. Add the funding map, the documentation, and the construction vocabulary — in one self-paced program with live support all year — and start saying yes to home modification cases with confidence they’ll get built and paid.
A $745.00 value
- 5 on-demand modules + bonus
- Quarterly live Q&A calls
- Private member forum
- Earn up to 7.5 CE hours
- Unlimited Access
Kara Welke, OTD, OTR/L, CLT, CAPS, SHSS
Kara earned her master’s and doctorate in occupational therapy from the University of South Dakota and spent eight years as faculty and academic fieldwork coordinator in an OTA program. In 2018 she launched a mobile hybrid practice to help older adults age in place; it has since grown to a team of 20+ providing a wide range of services and became the first therapy practice globally recognized as an age-friendly therapy practice.
Through Next Level Occupational Therapy and the Therapy Business Builder Program, Kara has helped hundreds of therapists across the country launch and grow their practices — with a focus on geriatric, community-based, and entrepreneurial work.
She doesn’t hand you the tidy textbook version. In the course she walks through what gets a CAPABLE modification funded, when an ABN protects you and when it doesn’t, why a grab bar fails in fiberglass without blocking behind the wall, and how to brief a contractor so your plan gets built and stays built.
From therapists who’ve done it
“Extremely helpful for someone just stepping into this area of practice. I would highly recommend this course.”
Sheri, OT
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course, very well presented and great deal of knowledge shared.”
Cindy, OT
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course, very well presented and great deal of knowledge shared.”
Marshall, PT
Continuing education details
Who it’s for
Occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and other rehabilitation and healthcare professionals working with aging adults.
CE hours
Earn up to 7.5 CE hours are included in your tuition. Credit availability varies by profession and state.
Bringing your team? Save more.
Group questions? Contact Us.
Frequently asked questions
Is this self-paced?
Yes. The moment you enroll you get all five recorded modules plus the bonus module, to watch on your own schedule. There’s no cohort start date and no fixed weekly cadence.
How do the live Q&A calls work?
You get access to quarterly live Q&A calls with Kara and hand-selected experts — one each quarter, Tuesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 PM Central. Bring your own cases and questions. If you can’t attend live, each call is recorded.
How many CE hours can I earn?
Earn up to 7.5 CE hours are included in tuition. Credit availability varies by profession and state — see the full CE details here.
Do I need any construction experience?
None at all. Module 5 builds your construction literacy from the ground up — framing, blocking, load-bearing walls, grab bar support, and how to collaborate with contractors — specifically for therapists.
How long will I have access to this course?
This course comes with Unlimited Access. You can pause, replay, and review the material whenever it works best for your schedule. During your access period, you can revisit the content as often as you like!
Turn what you already see into work that gets done
Five modules, the dementia-care bonus, quarterly live Q&A calls, and the billing flowchart — everything you need to recommend, document, fund, and build home modifications with authority. On your schedule.
Add it all up
Backed by PESI’s satisfaction guarantee — love it or your money back.