ADEQUACY OF CARE - THE CONCEPT AND ITS MEASUREMENT

This article presents a methodology for measuring the adequacy of care . Little attention has been given to how well services, both informal and formal, come together to meet the specific needs of dependent elde rly in-home care. The measure of adequacy of care derives from an asse ssment of need and assistance received in 14 activities of daily livin g. In each activity area where the elderly need assistance, assessment s are made of the quantity and quality of care received from formal an d informal sources. This information is then Ic;ed to produce several scores. Information for the measure ran be derived from either self-re port by the elderly or from professional assessment. The scores are us eful to social workers for both clinical and research purposes.