Use of the interRAI PEDS HC in Children Receiving Home Care in Ontario, Canada

Use of the interRAI PEDS HC in Children Receiving Home Care in Ontario, Canada

Thorburn-Winsor E; Doherty M; Jones A; Vadeboncoeur C

BMC Health Services Research

2022

Home Care; Ontario; Child; Epidemiology; Female; Human; Male; Palliative Therapy; Pilot Study; Prevalence

BACKGROUND: There is no standard assessment tool for pediatric home care recipients in Canada, limiting the availability of comparable, population-based data. The objective of this study was to describe pediatric home care recipients who were part of a pilot implementation of the interRAI Pediatric Home Care Assessment Form (PEDS-HC) among medically complex children referred to home care agencies in three regions in Ontario, Canada. METHOD(S): All 14 agencies providing home care to children in Ontario were invited to participate in the pilot project, and 9 participated in an education session. Three of these agencies used the PEDS-HC during the pilot implementation between February 2018 and March 2020. We used de-identified data to describe the demographics, home care needs, and diagnoses of pediatric home care recipients. RESULT(S): The sample of 474 assessments was predominantly male (60.34%), with an average age at assessment of 12.36years (SD 4.56). Most (78.48%) reported English as their primary language. Most children assessed had between two and eight medical diagnoses. Diagnoses reported varied: gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, respiratory and neurological conditions were most common. The prevalence of urinary incontinence (40.1%) and bowel incontinence (70.9%) were high. Over 60% of children were rarely or only sometimes understood. A majority of children had adequate hearing (83.5%) and vision (68.6%). Extensive services were being provided in 10% of children assessed. Most children received care both at school and at home (70.89%), with 20.89% receiving home care only. CONCLUSION(S): The PEDS-HC provides a detailed, standardised descriptive profile of medically complex children receiving home care. Expanding use of PEDS-HC would promote consistency in care planning and delivery on the patient level, enable cross-jurisdictional comparisons, and inform utilization tracking and health care funding decisions on the organization and provincial levels.Copyright © 2022. The Author(s).

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