Examining Care Assessment Scores of Community-Dwelling Adults in Flanders, Belgium: The Role of Socio-Psychological and Assessor-Related Factors

One of the primary objectives of health systems is to provide a fair system by providing a comprehensive and holistic approach to caregiving rather than focusing on a single aspect of a person’s care needs. This approach is often embodied by using standardized care assessments across health and social care settings. These assessments are completed by professional assessors and yield vital information regarding a person’s health or contextual characteristics (e.g., civic engagement, psychosocial wellbeing, environmental characteristics, informal care). However, these scores may be subject to bi... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Shauni Van Doren
David De Coninck
Kirsten Hermans
Anja Declercq
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Reihe/Periodikum: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 11845, p 11845 (2021)
Verlag/Hrsg.: MDPI AG
Schlagwörter: community-dwelling adults / home care / BelRAI / contextual factors / assessor bias / Belgium / Medicine / R
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26974134
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211845

One of the primary objectives of health systems is to provide a fair system by providing a comprehensive and holistic approach to caregiving rather than focusing on a single aspect of a person’s care needs. This approach is often embodied by using standardized care assessments across health and social care settings. These assessments are completed by professional assessors and yield vital information regarding a person’s health or contextual characteristics (e.g., civic engagement, psychosocial wellbeing, environmental characteristics, informal care). However, these scores may be subject to bias that endangers the fairness of the health system. In this study, we investigate to what extent socio-economic and psychological indicators and assessor-related indicators are associated with BelRAI Screener care assessment scores amongst 743 community-dwelling adults nested within 92 assessors in Flanders, Belgium. Findings indicate that there is significant variance in scores at the assessor-level. Socio-psychological characteristics of clients are associated with scores: being fluent in Dutch and providing informal care are associated with low care dependency, while living with children, feelings of depression, and the presence of an informal caregiver during assessment are associated with high care dependency. We discuss the importance of rigorous assessor training and the potential for socio-psychological factors to contribute to the allocation of welfare benefits in light of the Flemish home care system’s potential (lack of) fairness.