This author interview is by Dr Charles D. Phillips, of Texas A&M University. Dr Phillips' full paper, The interRAI Pediatric Home Care (PEDS HC) Assessment: Evaluating the Long-term Community-Based Service and Support Needs of Children Facing Special Healthcare Challenges, is available for download in Health Services Insights.

Please summarise for readers the content of your article.
The article provides a summary and overview of interRAI's Pediatric Home Care (PEDS HC) assessment. This assessment was developed to assess children and youth between the ages of four and twenty who need long-term community-based supports and services because of serious health challenges. The goal of the assessment is to provide care professionals with a comprehensive assessment that contains the information needed to develop an appropriate treatment plan and make any needed referrals for more specialized services.

How did you come to be involved in your area of study?
I was one of the researchers who developed the original Minimum Data Set (MDS) used to assess all nursing home residents in the United States. This led to my involvement with an international team of researchers and clinicians (interRAI) who develop and test assessments for a wide range of populations who receive services in a variety of care settings. Having also participated in the development of assessments for older persons receiving home care and for individuals facing mental health problems was good preparation for work on the PEDS HC. The research team was able to convert much of the material from those instruments to fit the needs of children and youth facing serious health care challenges.

What was previously known about the topic of your article?
A plethora of assessment tools are available for assessing children of a specific age or with a specific condition. These instruments do very well at identifying children/youth with a specified problem and determining the intensity of that problem.

How has your work in this area advanced understanding of the topic?
The PEDS HC is intended for use in developing plans for community-based long-term services and supports for children (4-20) facing any special health care challenges. The instrument is unique in its intent to lead directly to a treatment plan and the breadth of its content.

What do you regard as being the most important aspect of the results reported in the article?
The most important aspect of the article is the evidence it provides concerning the content and the validity of the PEDS HC.