Evaluations of Home Care Interventions for Frail Older Persons Using the interRAI Home Care Instrument: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

Background/ObjectivesThis systematic review describes the use of the interRAI Home Care (interRAI HC) instrument, an internationally validated comprehensive geriatric assessment, as a base for the evaluation of home care projects. Because of the evidence base of the instrument and its widespread use, researchers can make a thorough evaluation of projects and interventions in home care and can also have insight in international comparisons. The aim of this systematic review is to identify research that evaluates interventions in the home care setting using this comprehensive geriatric assessment and to describe these evaluations and report the results of the use of this instrument. DesignTwo independent reviewers constructed a comprehensive list of Medical Subject Headings, which was designed for 5 explicit categories: (1) interventions; (2) evaluation; (3) home care; (4) interRAI HC; and (5) older person. A systematic literature search was then performed in the main electronic databases Web of Science, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane, PsycInfo, and CINAHL for the years 1990 to 2013. SettingHome care. MeasurementsStudies were described and the following information was extracted from the articles: mean age and proportion of gender of participants; sample size; location of the study; goal of the study; main findings; main limitations; and results of the evaluation of the interRAI HC instrument. ResultsA total of 349 articles were identified. Eighteen studies met our inclusion criteria describing 18 interventions in home care evaluated with the interRAI HC instrument. ConclusionsThis systematic review can help researchers to plan evaluation of interventions in home care. The interRAI HC instrument proves to be a comprehensive tool to measure outcomes and can serve as an evaluation instrument for interventions. It can also be used as an intervention itself, when caregivers use the tool and its outcome measures to implement a care plan.