Use of the Resident Assessment Instrument to Measure Depression in Indigenous Home Care Clients

Abstract

We examined sociodemographic influences on depression in Canadian Indigenous people living off-reserve and assessed for home care or potential long-term care admission. Data were from the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care (RAI-HC). We built multilevel linear models to predict depression scores from demographic and clinical information, and inter-item correlations for the depression scale were compared between ancestry groups. Findings indicate that the demographic risk factors for depression are similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults. Clients of female sex, younger age, and lower educational attainment had higher depression scores, as did clients of poorer health status. Further investigation of the RAI's use with Indigenous peoples is warranted.