This guideline was commissioned as part of the Positive Ageing Strategy to develop an effective and integrated assessment pathway for the health and disability needs of New Zealand's older population. To date, assessment and provision for older peoples' physical and mental health needs and need for social support have been fragmented between various health and disability support services. The purpose of the guideline is to provide evidence based recommendations for appropriate and effective assessment processes to identify personal, social, functional and clinical needs in older people. That is, this is a guide to the processes required for effective assessment, and is not intended to address the specific details of assessments to be performed as part of these processes. 'Older people' generally refers to people aged 65 years and over, the age identified in the Health of Older People Strategy. In some cases, such as in the use of the term 'older Maori', the age is lower.

Full text may be available from the publisher

Additional document(s) available for this guideline:

• quick reference guide
• other supporting material (emergency departments)
• other supporting material (specialist services)
• other supporting material (proactive assessment)