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Category: Methods and Measures

Description: ***NOTE: This instrument and documentation were developed in the mid-twentieth-century and copyrighted in 1975. Some of the terminology and language present in the documents is not what is considered standard or acceptable in the modern day. Users may adjust dated language as needed, recognizing that significant changes &/or translation into other languages may require revalidation of the instruments by the user.*** The Duke OARS (Older Americans Resources and Services) Program, developed at the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, was specifically designed as a means of determining the impact of services and alternative service programs on the functional status of older persons. The resulting brief, valid, and reliable instruments have been used for purposes as varied as individual clinical assessment of personal functional status, surveys of the status of adult populations, assessment of service utilization and service requirements, longitudinal investigations in community, clinic and long-term care settings, and training of service providers. In order to examine the impact of services on functional state, OARS developed a three-part model: 1) Assessment of individual functional status, in order to group together people of comparable functional status; 2) Disaggregation of services into their generic components, and reaggregation according to actual use (service packages); 3) Use of a transition matrix to study the impact of specific service packages on specific functional states. The OARS Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire (OMFAQ) operationalizes the first two parts of this model. The first section of the OMFAQ seeks information on five dimensions of functioning: Social Resources, Economic Resources, Mental Health, Physical Health, and ability to carry out Activities of Daily Living. On each dimension the information obtained is summarized on a 6-point scale where the values range from 1 (level of functioning excellent) to 6 (level of functioning totally impaired). The second section of the OMFAQ inquires about the extent, intensity of utilization, and perceived need for each of 24 non-overlapping, broadly encompassing generic services. Total administration time for the entire OMFAQ is about 45 minutes. Information is usually sought in a personal interview with the subject or an informant, although sections can be obtained by mail or telephone. No advanced or professional education is required to administer this questionnaire. Consult the manual for complete instructions.