interRAI Contact Assessment (CA) Form and User’s Manual: A Screening Level Assessment for Intake to Home and Community Care, interRAI Standard Edition, Version 10.0.1

The interRAI Contact Assessment (CA) Version 10.0.1 contains updates from the previous standard edition version 9.2.1. It is an initial, screening level assessment instrument that provides preliminary information to support the home care assessment intake process. Version 10.0 includes three forms: the interRAI Standard Version, the CIHI Canadian Version, and a New Zealand version. There are also appendices that outline variations on the manual applicable to the CIHI Canadian and New Zealand contexts.

The interRAI CA is designed as a home and community care intake system for persons screened in the community or hospital (including the emergency department). The interRAI CA should always be done electronically to ensure that the assessors receive instantaneous results for the clinical algorithms, scales, and indicators embedded in the interRAI CA.

The interRAI CA is based on measures that are fully compatible with the broader suite of internationally used interRAI instruments. It promotes a continuous, person-centred approach to care that enhances the coordination and collaboration of health care and social service organizations across the continuum of care.

The interRAI CA is not a substitute for a comprehensive interRAI assessment. It records only essential information needed at the time of intake to support decisions regarding the need for more comprehensive assessment, the urgency of home support service provision, and the need for specialised services.

This book contains introductory material; item-by-item guides to the common section of the CA assessment form and to both CA modules; decision support algorithms for both modules; appendices for the CIHI Canadian and New Zealand contexts; and three assessment forms: Standard version, CIHI Canadian Version, and New Zealand version.