Get Started with a Comprehensive Assessment

Conducting the comprehensive assessment is critical to determining appropriate services. The goal is to reduce emergencies and provide services which will maintain and enhance the quality of life for our clients.

From the assessment, we create a care plan that helps guide ongoing care and gives additional direction to caregivers. At each step, we are communicating with family and the client to discuss, as a team, the needs, wishes, and budgetary constraints of services.

The assessment will be documented in the client records for future benchmarking of functional status. We can also create a formal report if needed for each  family member, physician, or court system, such as in guardianship appointments.

The following is a comprehensive list of assessment screens used in compiling a complete assessment.

  • Health perception/health history information obtained from client’s physician
  • Medication review (prescription and over-the-counter medications)
  • Identification of all physicians of record
  • Katz Index of Independence in the “activities of daily living”
  • The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
  • Pain assessment (if indicated)
  • Fall risk
  • Physical environment  (indoor and outdoor)
  • Mini-nutritional assessment
  • Mini-mental exam (MMSE)
  • Geriatric depression scale (GDS)
  • Alcohol use screening
  • Caregiver strain index
  • Urinary incontinence
  • Social history
  • Elder assessment instrument