An evidence-based approach to assessing older people in primary care

If the health care of older people is to be more effective, the following goals will have to be achieved by European primary care systems in the future: - to provide (continuous) ambulatory rehabilitation - to build up structures of flexible and reliable multiprofessional working teams in the community - to effectively build partnerships between health care providing institutions for the continuity of patients care - to evaluate the health outcomes and cost-effectiveness of new models of health care delivery in the community To achieve all these goals, geriatric assessment constitutes the basic prerequisite: It provides the necessary linking tool to create a holistic and common knowledge about the patient within the different health care providing institutions and for all health professionals involved. It opens up the possibility of widespread preventive strategies and might support management strategies. Finally geriatric assessment offers the scientific community a standard data set about the health and functional status of the elderly population. Thus it might be used for research purposes to evaluate the effectiveness of management and care. Moreover a standardised assessment instrument will enable health planners to allocate resources more efficiently according to identified patterns of health problems and needs.