News
Key findings from the latest interRAI Annual Report 2018/19
interRAI New Zealand analysis of data highlights some key findings about older people living in aged residential care.
During the past year 127,000 interRAI assessments were completed for older people living in New Zealand Of those:
· Most older people (92 percent) in care have strong supportive relationships with their family
· Most (76 percent) people in residential care facilities find meaning in their daily life
· Most (71 percent) have a consistent positive outlook
· Most (71 percent) spend some or most of their time involved in activities
· People living in the 667 aged residential care facilities across the country are on average 85 years old – about half of them (49%) have some form of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
· Nearly three quarters (73 percent) aged care residents use a walking stick, walking frame, wheelchair or scooter to get around. And 44 percent of people found it difficult to make decisions, such as what to wear.
Complete your draft assessments or discontinue them
All draft or incomplete assessments will be discontinued next February if they are older than three months, or 90 days past the Assessment Reference Date (ARD). This will make it easier next year when we move to from two software host sites to one host site.
Temporary change for LTCF users
To prevent the creation of duplicate records we have made a temporary software change for Long Term Care Facilities (LTCF) assessments. Assessors will not be able to use the 'Add a New Resident' option under Common Tasks bar.
Aged Residential Care funding review report published
The review recommendations strengthen interRAI as a key component of the New Zealand health sector. interRAI has been the primary assessment system in aged residential care across the country since 2015.
Assess once – use often
interRAI is an integrated health information system where assessment data has many uses. In New Zealand, we use assessment data for individual care planning, resource planning and quality initiatives at facility and DHB level, policy development and research, all drawn from single assessments completed by a health professionals. Adding Resource Utilisation Groups (RUGs) increases interRAI’s value even more.
Ongoing development of the high standard of support for interRAI assessors will be crucial for maintaining the integrity of assessments and the resulting quality data.
Opportunity for a stronger continuum of care
The introduction of Resource Utilisation Groups (RUGs) is an opportunity to better align aged care with other parts of the health sector strengthening the continuum of care for older people.
interRAI is ideally placed to support this alignment. More than 25 assessments are available for many different settings and populations, including acute care and mental health. All interRAI assessments share a common language and concepts, making assessment data transferable across settings and locations.
About RUGs
Many countries use a standardised assessment to determine an individual’s level of need for long-term care. In many of these classification systems, the levels of care determined by the assessment instrument are directly connected to the level of funding available to care for the individual.
Resource Utilisation Groups (RUGs) directly match funding to a resident’s needs and care plan.
The RUGs system has proven to be extremely robust[1] and it is used in several nations as a basis of a payment system for funding long-term care, including the United States, Canada, Iceland and Finland[2].
[1] Carpenter et al. 1997
[2] https://www.interrai.org/assets/files/par-i-chapter-3-old-age.pdf
Online interRAI training available
interRAI Services has launched online training for health professionals who would like to read their clients’ interRAI assessments.
The course is the first e-learning offering for interRAI users in New Zealand. It was developed to meet the growing demand from health professionals who use interRAI information to gain a better understanding of their clients’ functional abilities.
Users learn about:
- how to access the interRAI software system
- how to read and interpret assessment information
- interRAI clinical decision making support.
The course takes one hour to complete and is also a great general introduction to the interRAI software system.
New look and feel for the interRAI software
From 24 August 2019 we gave the interRAI software system a new look and feel and a more modern and logical user interface.
The functionality stayed the same though some tabs and buttons may have moved locations.