Aims: In New Zealand, interRAI assessments are mandated to access government-funded home-based supports and residential care entry. Improving clinical utility of interRAI data is one of several national interRAI priorities. The aims here were to understand how clinicians and aged care service providers access and use interRAI currently and how clinicians and service providers, older people and family would like to access and use data in the future.
Methods: Two mixed-methods online surveys were developed for aged care sector professionals and older people/their family and disseminated through researcher networks. Topics included: current access/use; barriers; content; delivery of content; perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI).
Results: 77 sector professionals participated: 48/71 (68%) use/would like to use interRAI data, predominantly for individual assessments and care planning. Perceived lack of clinical usefulness, difficulty navigating system and time constraints were reasons identified by those not using interRAI data. Other concerns included: lack of real-time responsiveness, redundancy with other systems, preference for better data visualisation and concise summaries, lack of training or resources to use data. A high degree of uncertainty about AI-generated summaries was identified. Eighty-nine older people/family participated: mean age 69 years. 31/50 (62%) thought information was useful, 34/56 (61%) wished for more information following assessment, 28/53 (53%) thought information provided informed actions/access to support, 13/55 (24%) were comfortable with AI-generated summaries.
Conclusions: Overall interRAI assessments were valued by professionals and older people/family. Priority areas for improvement have been identified and piloting changes in aged care will be initiated in the future.