Assessment of the Older Adult

The assessment of older adults is focused on identifying their self-care abilities and helping them achieve an optimal level of functioning.

In addition to completing a comprehensive physical examination, you’ll assess their functional, cognitive, environmental, and social status.

Alright, a functional assessment evaluates your patient’s physical mobility and functional independence. Now, before assessing mobility, make sure your patient is wearing appropriate footwear, has their necessary assistive devices, and that you’re standing nearby to prevent falls.

Then, assess your patient’s physical mobility and gait by having them perform the “Timed Up and Go” test, or TUG for short, where you’ll ask them stand up from a seated position, walk ten feet, then return to the chair and sit down.

During this time, note their ability to get up from the chair, their balance, gait, and speed, and balance. Then to assess their functional independence, use your facility's approved tool to evaluate their ability to perform basic activities of daily living, or ADLs like bathing, dressing, feeding, and toileting.

Next, ask them about how they perform more complex tasks, known as instrumental ADLs, or IADLs, like washing their clothes and shopping for groceries.

You can also ask them to demonstrate how to use their phone and how they organize their medications. During a cognitive assessment, you’ll evaluate your patient’s level of cognitive function.

Start by reviewing their electronic health record for medications or conditions that can impair cognition, such opioids, antidepressants, or anticonvulsants, or a history of traumatic brain injury.

Also assess general indicators of their mental status, such as their grooming, hygiene, and clarity of speech. You may also use your facility’s approved instrument to further screen for attention and memory deficits, like the Mini Mental State Examination, or MMSE, which assesses orientation to time and location, registration, recall, attention, calculation, and language.

The MMSE totals 30 points, and a score of less than 24 implies cognitive impairment. To assess their mood and screen for depression, use a facility approved tool such as the Geriatric Depression Scale, or GDS.

Perform an environmental assessment to evaluate the characteristics of your patient’s living environment. Begin by conducting a home visit to identify potential hazards in their home or neighborhood.

Using a safety checklist, you can identify home hazards, like loose rugs or carpets, clutter, and slippery surfaces; as well as neighborhood hazards, like uneven sidewalks or dim streetlights.

You’ll also assess the community for availability of services such as public transportation and access to grocery stores and pharmacies.

Now, to conduct a social assessment to evaluate your patient’s level of social resources, ask your patient about their relationships with family and friends.

Determine if there are any family members living with them or if they live alone, and how often they talk to, visit, or are visited by other people they know.

Also determine if there’s a family member or friend who can assist them in the event of illness or disability, or if a home health aide would be needed.

Lastly, ask them if they receive social support from community groups or faith-based organizations. Alright, as a quick recap .

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The assessment of older adults is focused on identifying their self-care abilities and helping them achieve an optimal level of functioning.

In addition to completing a comprehensive physical examination, you’ll assess their functional, cognitive, environmental,