DwellSafe partners with Duke to improve home accessibility for individuals with low vision
By HME News Staff
Updated 10:04 AM CST, Mon February 16, 2026
RALEIGH, N.C. - DwellSafe has signed a memorandum of understanding with Duke University School of Medicine to support a student-driven Duke Bass Connections project, “Home Design for the Visually Impaired.” This effort aims to advance innovation, translational research, and evidence-based solutions that improve home safety and accessibility for individuals with low vision. “This collaboration advances our mission to treat the home as part of the clinical encounter, so more people, regardless of age, ability, or location, have access to expert-backed, evidence-based guidance,” said Dr. James Taylor, CEO of DwellSafe. “We look forward to working with Duke to develop and evaluate tools that improve safety, accessibility, and independence for people with visual impairment.” The student project builds on pioneering clinical and research work led by Dr. Diane Whitaker, assistant professor of Ophthalmology, and Omar Mohiuddin, OTR/L, MS, MPH, CLVT, an occupational therapist, at the Duke Eye Center in Durham, N.C. A joint steering committee will oversee initiatives such as developing improved assessment criteria for occupational therapists, creating educational home-safety resources for individuals with low vision, jointly evaluating innovative technologies including AI-enabled tools, supporting translational research and co-developing enabling resources and grant proposals, and coordinating strategies for knowledge transfer, scale-up, and broad public access to validated home-safety solutions.
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