Hoskins R, Tobin J, McMaster K, Quinn T
Nursing & Midwifery School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 59 Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LW, UK.
Public Health. 2005 Oct;119(10):853-61. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2005.03.012.
To evaluate the roll-out of a nurse-led Attendance Allowance (AA) screening programme in 24 general practices located within the largest Local Health Care Co-operative in Glasgow.
Evaluation study
Six hundred and thirty participants aged over 64 years who, in the nurses' clinical judgement, appeared to have care needs were recruited opportunistically by community nurses over a 15-month period. A money advice worker contacted all potential underclaimers offering a home visit to assess for unclaimed benefits. The main outcome measured was the total amount of unclaimed AA, linked benefits and grants.
Three hundred and sixty-three participants and 13 relatives were awarded a total of 1,136,424.10 pounds. Of this, 1,016,908.70 pounds was on a recurrent annual basis and 119,515.44 pounds was awarded as lump sums.
This method of benefits assessment (community-nurse-led pre-AA screening followed by a home visit from a money advice worker) would appear to be an efficient and effective method of income maximization that could be rolled out nationally within primary care settings located in deprived areas.
