Purpose: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has adopted two functional assessment systems that guide care planning: one for nursing home residents (the Resident Assessment Instrument [RAI]) and a compatible one for home care clients (RAI-HC). The purpose of this article is to describe the RAI-HC (often referred to as the Minimum Data Set-Home…

Assesses applied relevance of research on home care, reviewing literature on predictors of use of home care services, experience of receiving home care, and efficacy studies. Notes that efficacy studies have not concluded that home care is less costly or better for quality of life of older adults when compared with institutional care. (Author/NB)

Compares differences between elderly who use formal home care services and those who do not. Data revealed users as less healthy and less active and as receiving more assistance from both formal and informal sources. Suggests that formal and informal services complement rather than substitute for one another. (NRB)

Interviewed 990 urban elderly Canadians to examine factors influencing the desire for different housing. Results showed that housing conditions, living with children, and sickness influenced the wishes of the elderly to leave home, while functional impairment was not related. (JAC)

Found clientele of two comprehensive sociomedical home care programs to be similar to clientele of a traditional medical nursing program. The comprehensive programs did not have clientele with more problems and less adequate social supports. To serve their target clientele, these programs need more homemaker and personal services. (Author/ABB)

Presents estimates of paraprofessional home care revenue and size, the composition of the industry, and the workforce incentives inherent in different forms of reimbursement. Findings from the review are discussed, including indications that industry's reliance on public funding places special importance on payment policies that recognize critical…