interRAI assessments: an overview
A conversation about health and wellbeing
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An interRAI assessment means dedicated time with a skilled clinician, to talk about your health and wellbeing. What's going well? What's challenging? This conversation helps those involved with your care and support, build a picture of your overall health, and forms the basis of a care plan.
interRAI assessments are conducted by clinicians (e.g. nurses, physiotherapists, etc.) who are specially trained to become interRAI assessors. The assessments vary in length and complexity, and are tailored to different situations according to the needs of the person being cared for.
Your rights, your data
The information gathered in your assessment is yours, and you can ask to see it at any time. A close friend or family member can see it too, if you have given your permission.
interRAI assessment data is collected using our interRAI Assessment Software (iAS), and stored securely. Only clinicians directly involved in your assessment and care can see it, and their access is recorded.
With your consent, your anonymised data is used in our data warehouse. This is an amazing resource for health research locally and internationally. Your data is helping improve health care all over the world - thank you for this precious taonga.
Assessment for ACC care
The Acute Care assessment is an assessment completed in hospital. It is used to assess your needs when ACC care is required. People from age 16 can receive this assessment. This assessment is completed by hospital clinical staff. In the community, the Contact Assessment is completed to assess your ACC needs.
Assessment for hospice care
Anyone 16 years or over, who is in hospice care may receive a Palliative Care assessment, which focuses on your health, comfort and wellbeing when receiving palliative care. This assessment is completed by hospice clinical staff, and you can ask for an assessment to be completed whether you are living at home or in a dedicated hospice facility.
What is a NASC?
NASC stands for Needs Assessment Service Coordination. Each region has a NASC team who spend time out in the community completing interRAI assessments and using this information to form care plans. NASC teams are trained by interRAI Services, but run their operations separately from us.
Information gathered by NASCs is used by regional funding teams to form packages of care. Based on what the interRAI assessment tells them about your health and wellbeing, you'll be offered services (housework, help with personal care, etc.) based on the regional funding model. The interRAI assessment doesn't tell the funding team what services to offer you, that decision is made by the funding team independently.
How do I get an assessment and how often will I be assessed?
Any adult who needs help or support can self-refer for an interRAI assessment. Your GP, social workers, hospital clinicians, and many other community health workers can also refer you. Contact your local NASC to start the process.
Assessments are reviewed regularly. Once you've had an interRAI assessment, you can expect to receive one every 1-3 years, and more frequently if anything changes with your health.
This shorter assessment is often used in the community. It helps build an initial picture of your health and wellbeing without taking up too much of your time. This assessment is completed by your local NASC service or local care provider agency.
This comprehensive assessment looks at your health and wellbeing at home. This assessment is completed by your local NASC service or other approved clinicians.
This modular comprehensive assessment has extra components that can be added to look at specific needs or concerns. This assessment is completed by your local NASC service or other approved clinicians.
People living in aged residential care receive an assessment on first entry to a care facility, and thereafter every six months. They also receive an assessment whenever they move up or down in care level (for example from rest home care to dementia care).
This assessment is for people in the community or in aged residential care who have received a palliative diagnosis. It is completed by aged residential care, local NASC service, or other approved clinicians.
Information and security
If you have had an interRAI assessment, you are a health consumer and your rights are set out in the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights.
The Code ensures your right to see and understand your assessment, as well as your right to decide who else (family, friends, etc.) should have access to your information.
If you hold an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA) for someone else's affairs, you have automatic authority to see their assessments. The person who conducted the assessment can take you through it in detail - just ask. You may also like to see the accompanying care plan, to help you understand what decisions have been made about care.
A record of access is created every time a person's assessment records are accessed in the interRAI software system. This ensures information is kept safe and secure, and records are never accessed inappropriately.
Information entered into our interRAI software system is held securely, heavily protected by encryption and passwords. Information about real people is never used for training or marketing purposes.
See also our privacy statement