The Uniform Assessment Instrument (UAI) in Virginia

Last verified: October 2026. Figures and rules are re-checked against primary sources.

What is the Uniform Assessment Instrument in Virginia?

The Uniform Assessment Instrument (UAI) is Virginia's standard assessment of how much help an adult needs, used by assisted living facilities and public programs alike. It records a person's functioning, including bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, bowel and bladder control, and eating, and also medication administration and behavior pattern.

Because the form is shared, one assessment speaks the same language to a facility's admissions director and a social services worker. Virginia assisted living admission rests on it together with a physical examination report and a documented interview (22VAC40-73-310). It is the first document many families never see until it matters.

Who completes the UAI for a Hampton Roads family?

Trained assessors from the local department of social services, a community services board or a screening team complete the UAI. Hospital teams do screenings for patients being discharged. For Auxiliary Grant applicants, the functional assessment is requested through the local DSS or community services board.

Ask the facility, the hospital or the DSS office exactly which assessment is being used and whether it will be accepted for a public-program application. Ask who is doing it, what date, and how to receive a copy. Families in Norfolk, Chesapeake and Hampton each call their own city's department of social services; the assessment follows the locality where the person lives.

How does the UAI decide residential or assisted living care?

The answers sort a person into residential living care, for those who need only minimal help or are dependent only in medication administration, or assisted living care, for those who need at least moderate help or are dependent in behavior pattern. The facility's license must cover the level the form shows.

That is why an assessment that undersells your parent's needs backfires. A person marked too low may be admitted, then fail to get appropriate care, then face a forced move. Describe the worst day, not the best one, and bring a family member who sees daily life. Our licensing levels guide explains the two levels.

How does the UAI connect to the Auxiliary Grant and Medicaid?

The UAI is a required step toward both programs. Auxiliary Grant applicants request the functional assessment through the local DSS or community services board before filing the grant application. Medicaid long-term services screening likewise relies on assessment by local community or hospital teams.

Without it, an application stalls. The Auxiliary Grant page lists the steps and the 45-day processing window. The CCC Plus Waiver page explains screening for home-based services. A scheduling delay of a week or two on the assessment becomes a delay on everything after it.

What should Hampton Roads families bring to a UAI assessment?

Bring a current medication list, the names of the physicians involved, recent hospital or rehabilitation paperwork and a written list of what your parent can and cannot do alone. Have the person who sees the daily routine present, since older adults tend to say they are fine when they are not.

Be specific about the hard moments: getting out of the tub, the night-time bathroom trips, the days the pills are missed. If your parent is in a Sentara or Bon Secours hospital bed, ask the case manager to coordinate timing, so the assessment reflects the baseline rather than a bad hospital week alone. Afterward, ask for a copy and read it with the care you would give a contract.

What does the UAI mean for maximum assistance and nursing facility level?

If the UAI shows maximum physical assistance and the person also meets Medicaid nursing facility level of care, Virginia assisted living generally cannot keep the person unless an independent physician determines otherwise. That finding is one of the listed conditions in 22VAC40-73-310 H.

This is the point where families learn that assisted living is not a final stop for everyone. The admission limits page covers the full list. A realistic plan from the start includes where your parent would go if care needs rise, whether that is a nursing home, hospice at home or a higher-level facility.

When is the UAI repeated, and how should families prepare?

A new assessment is done when a resident's condition changes in a way that could move them to another level, and facilities reassess at intervals set in the rules. Ask the community how often it reassesses and what triggers an earlier review, such as a fall or hospital stay.

Ask for a copy each time and compare the answers with what you see on visits. After a fall or hospitalization, read what to do after a fall. A higher level often means a higher monthly bill, so ask for the new price in writing before you agree to the change.