The Impact of Administration Formats on SIS-A Scores.
Remote SIS-A interviews give the same scores as in-person ones, so you can assess adults with IDD online without risking their funding.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Subramaniam et al. (2023) gave the adult SIS-A twice to the same people.
One time the interviewer sat in the same room. The other time the interview happened on Zoom.
They compared the two sets of scores to see if the format changed the results.
What they found
The Zoom scores were only a hair different from the in-person scores.
That tiny gap is too small to move someone to a lower funding band.
Funding teams can trust remote SIS-A numbers just like face-to-face numbers.
How this fits with other research
Carlin et al. (2012) also tested format changes. They showed that adding sound to pictures helped adults with IDD remember better. Both studies say the same thing: changing the delivery mode does not hurt validity.
Giesbers et al. (2020) checked a different adult IDD tool, the Social Vulnerability Questionnaire. Like R et al., they asked, "Does this measure hold up?" Both papers answer yes, giving clinicians two solid choices for adult assessment.
Kovačič et al. (2020) looked at the SED-S in the same crowd. They found real score gaps between IDD-only and IDD-plus-ASD adults. R et al. did not split groups that way, but their tiny format effect shows the SIS-A can spot those real differences no matter how you give it.
Why it matters
You can keep doing SIS-A interviews on Zoom when travel, weather, or health makes in-person hard. Expect the same support-needs profile and the same funding outcome. Just make sure the camera and microphone are clear so the adult can hear and see you well.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Many U.S. states use the Supports Intensity Scale-Adult Version (SIS-A; Thompson et al., 2015) to inform the distribution of public funds for long-term services and supports. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many states began administering the SIS-A virtually instead of in person. Because administration format has the potential to influence SIS-A scores and, consequently, impact the funding people receive for long-term services and supports, this study examined the stability of support need scores, as measured by the SIS-A, over two time periods: (a) when assessments were conducted in person and (b) when assessments were conducted virtually using remote technology. Specifically, the influence of assessment administration formats on SIS-A scores and on the perceptions of SIS-A assessors were investigated. Results revealed that the virtual administration format impacted SIS-A scores, but the impact was of little to no practical importance.
American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1352/1944-7558-128.1.66