MEASURING THE ADEQUACY OF HOME CARE FOR FRAIL ELDERS

Community elders (N = 330) were interviewed by telephone twice ist bas eline using both computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) and nur se clinicians, and at four-month follow-up using CATI to collect alter native paraprofessional home care adequacy measures. Measurement forma t influenced both reliability and observed levels of adequacy but alte rnative adequacy measures converged and were not closely linked to fun ctional status. The predictive validity of measures based on clinical standards with respect to health outcomes was also demonstrated. These findings support emerging approaches in primary care and home health quality measurement that consider multiple dimensions of user response to formal and informal care.