Developing a health interview tool for Medicaid home and community-based services clients and home care aides through a community-engaged approach

ABSTRACT

We describe a community-engaged approach to develop and pilot a home care aide (HCA) administered health interview with Medicaid Home and Community-based Services clients. Stakeholders identified five priority health topics and selected a card sorting methodology for interviews. A barrier to interviewing clients was decreased communication skills among HCAs, and we modified health interview training to include communication training. Stakeholders reported the interview methodology was feasible within usual care, acceptable to clients, and contributed to increased knowledge on providing person-centered care. Stakeholder engagement resulted in valuable insights regarding the health interview methodology and relevant training needs.

KEYWORDS:

• Home and community-based services
• older adults
• home care aides
• care preferences
• communication

Acknowledgments

We thank our community partner Help at Home, Inc. and our stakeholders who have guided this project: Ms. Becky Ward, Ms. Jeanie Ramsey, Pastor Bruce Hanson, and Dr. David X Marquez.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (#Contract 3341-NWU). The views presented in this article are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), its Board of Governors or Methodology Committee.