Adequacy of care: The concept and its measurement

This article presents a methodology for measuring the adequacy of care. Little attention has been given to how well services, both informal and formal, come together to meet the specific needs of dependent elderly in-home care. The measure of adequacy of care derives from an assessment of need and assistance received in 14 activities of daily living. In each activity area where the elderly need assistance, assessments are made of the quantity and quality of care received from formal and informal sources. This information is then used to produce several scores. Information for the measure can be derived from either self-report by the elderly or from professional assessment. The scores are useful to social workers for both clinical and research purposes.