We are excited to work with the Department and other assessment providers around Australia, who, like Care Assess, are participating to ensure a successful trial and the best possible outcome for our older clients.
 
The IAT trial is a new assessment tool developed by the Department to better match services to a person's aged care support needs.
 
It will assess eligibility for all aged care programs, including home care, residential care, transition care, multi-purpose services, and respite.
 
This new tool is specifically designed to make the assessment process more efficient, accurate and tailored to individual needs.
 
The tool will use a suite of assessment instruments that will cover several domains that identify a person's aged care needs, including general and personal health, functional decline, cognition and behaviour, psychological condition, community engagement and support, medical conditions, home and personal safety, and carer support.
 
The new classification system will also identify the home care services that are most appropriate to meet the senior Australian's aged care needs.
 
We understand that not all senior Australians need intensive assessments, which is why the new tool will have four assessment levels.
 
Each level of assessment will build on the previous, using trigger points to guide assessors to the most appropriate assessment level for each person.
 
This approach ensures the assessment process is tailored to each individual's needs.
 
In addition to assessing a senior Australian's eligibility for the Support at Home Program, the IAT tool will also identify if a senior Australian's needs would be best met in residential aged care and provide their funding approval as part of the assessment outcome.
 
The IAT tool has been developed through research, which included the assessment of 2,500 senior Australians using a prototype tool.
 
This tool will be further refined through the Living Lab trial in 2022 to ensure the best possible outcome for our senior clients.
 
We are thrilled to be part of this exciting new development in aged care assessment, and we look forward to supporting our senior clients through this new process.