Lay summary
Despite higher rates of chronic disease, Pacific elderly in Aotearoa are less likely to receive funded community care and the cost of caring falls on families in the form of unpaid care. This is contributed to by fewer Pacific elderly receiving the interRAI assessment required to access funded services. It is likely that funded service use would be higher in Pacific elders if more were assessed and aware of available supports and services. As such, the aim of this research is to quantify who is currently missing out on services and explore the reasons for this by carrying out interRAI assessments in 400 Pacific elders who have never had an assessment. The primary outcomes of this project will quantify the level of unmet need and associated carer burden. Longitudinal follow up will assess the anticipated impact of service utilisation on improved longer term health outcomes and lower health care costs.