Consumer rated quality of care: Consumer Choice Index-6 Dimension (CCI-6D)
With the recent introduction of consumer directed care in the Australian aged care sector, there is growing emphasis on providing people living in residential aged care with increasing levels of flexibility and choice in their care, which is hoped to lead to improved quality of life and wellbeing.
In order to better meet the needs and expectations of residents (including people with dementia) and their family members, it is essential that we understand the perspectives of residents and family members (consumers) themselves.
The ‘models of residential care for older people with cognitive decline’ project team has developed an Australian consumer derived measure of quality and choice in long-term aged care – the Consumer Choice Index – 6 Dimension (CCI-6D). The CCI-6D has been developed to specifically evaluate the quality of care in residential aged care homes from a consumer perspective.
The tool has been validated and correlates as expected with other related measures of resident quality of life and quality of care.
To develop the tool, qualitative interviews were conducted with residents of aged care homes, including people with dementia and their family members to ascertain what characteristics of residential aged care are important to them for good quality care.
The CCI-6D measures six key characteristics of quality care which were derived from these interviews. The CCI-6D can be used by aged care organisations to properly evaluate the success of innovations to improve care from their consumers’ perspectives.
Tools for industry
Summaries for industry
Consumer_Choice_Summary (PDF 517KB)
Consumer_Choice_Summary_2 (PDF 1MB)
The importance of personhood (PDF 1MB)
Checklist for choosing residential aged care
Checklist for choosing a residential aged care facility (PDF 209KB)
Summary for consumers
What do aged care residents care most about? (PDF 474KB)
CCI-6D media content:
Aged Care Insite podcast interview with Dr Suzanne Dyer
Flinders University blog – aged care homes under consumer watch
9 News Adelaide interview with Associate Professor Craig Whitehead
Publications
Evaluating the quality of care in long-term facilities from a consumer perspective: development and construct validity of the Consumer Choice Index – Six Dimension Instrument
Milte R, Ratcliffe J, Bradley C, Shulver W, Crotty M. (2017). Ageing and Society; 1-23.
Quality in residential care from the perspective of people living with dementia: the importance of personhood
Milte R, Shulver W, Killington M, Bradley C, Ratcliffe J, Crotty M. (2016). Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics; 63: 9-17.
What characteristics of nursing homes are most valued by consumers? A discrete choice experiment with residents and family members
Milte R, Ratcliffe J, Chen G, Crotty M. (2017) Value in Health; Dec 6: 1-7.