1. ACFI Tool Development and Measurement Model

• Selecting and adapting the assessments
• Creating a measurement model based on ordinal based assessment summary items (e.g. A, B, C, D)
• Creating new items within new or modified questions
• Developing the depression and cognition sections
• Modifying the health assessment area etc
• Determining how the assessment tool approach could be used to allocate funding
• Designing a set of items that could be subject to audit
• Based on best practice assessment principles to fit the requirements of all stakeholders [the target population, the users (both aged care providers and auditors) and government bodies]
• Created an innovative approach to the determination of funding for aged care residents – based on assessed care need in contrast to care provided

2. Developing the Funding Model which included:

• A recalibration of the total funding from the RCS to ACFI
• Examining the budget impact of grand-parenting with actuarial models
• Scoring, weighting and setting of all cut-points and relative resource distribution between the categories
• Ability to create an assessment system and financial models that resulted in the equitable distribution of $8 billion in funding for residents of aged care facilities
• Developing models to assess the impact on individual homes including the identification for homes at risk
• Special visit to conduct in-depth reviews of some ‘homes at risk’ to determine if the ACFI or their assessment approach was an issue
• Conducting ACFI reviews in more special services homes (e.g. facilities focusing on the homeless) and proposing how these homes could receive appropriate funding under the ACFI model

3. Researching the Approach – Designing and Running the National Trial

• Development of a robust research and evaluation design for the National ACFI Trial
• Managed, ran and analysed the national trial data – this included aged care home assessors, external nurse assessors and agencies and aged care assessment team assessors completing ACFI’s
• Further testing in a limited trial of the changes made after the National Trial Development of all the ACFI training material including a DVD demonstrating how to complete the assessments
• Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data
• Statistical analysis, modelling and reporting

4. Liaising with Industry

• Participation in presentations, conferences and extensive discussion groups with industry during the development of the ACFI
• Ability to liaise, consult and obtain co-operation from all aspects of the Aged Care Industry (Residential Care Facilities, Industry and peak bodies, ACATs, Australian and State Government departments, Commonwealth Nursing Officers, Community Care Sector)

5. Developing the Audit Model based on the ACFI

• Development of the audit model methodology
• Conducted a trial and tested how it would work in practice, then modified the approach
• AACS also conducted all training with the DoHA assessors around Australia
• Created, tested and then documented the audit system that DoHA now uses to check on facility compliance with funding claim requirements.

The ACFI evidence-based clinical assessment toolkit (EBCAT) project is to include:

• a review of known resources (ie. screening / assessment / guidelines and references to be reviewed by domain, topic, target population and usability)
• development of a toolkit to assist PSRACS staff in the selection and use of a set of valid evidence based and reliable assessment tools
• practical resources such as case studies, associated clinical risk guidelines and administrative checklists for ACFI appraisals.

• Australian Centre for Evidence Based Care, La Trobe University
• School of Psychiatry, Monash University

• strengthened screening and assessment of residents to enhance quality of care processes and outcomes
• address the assessment requirements and approaches to be eligible for the new dementia and severe behaviours supplement
• support objective and appropriate resident assessment and recording for appropriate ACFI claiming purposes