Sample
Case records that met the following criteria were
reviewed: active cases that had been opened between
June 1,1989, and January 1,1993, for subjects
aged 55 years and over (more than two thirds of the
cases in both samples had been opened in 1992). The
time frame was necessary to ensure an adequate
sample size, and no changes had been made in the
policies for service delivery or in the assessment
forms in that period. A total of 270 cases were selected
for the sample based on these criteria (124 in
North and 146 in South county). The selected cases
represented about 90% of the active cases in each
agency during the data collection period, which was
from mid-September 1992 to mid-January 1993.
Those not meeting the criteria for inclusion in the
study were for the most part younger people with
disabilities. Both counties are within the metropolitan
Atlanta region, and all geographic areas in each
county were represented in the final sample. During
the study period, each county had an assigned assessment
team comprised of a registered nurse and a
case worker. Either member of the team could be the
primary assessor, with the second member reviewing
the assessment and care plan recommended by
the primary assessor in order to ensure some consistency
in assessment and care planning. During this
period there was one team assigned to cover North
county where the team did not experience any turnover.
South county was also assigned one assessment
team, but there was one new caseworker in the
early part of the study period.