IN-HOME PROGRAMS OF PREVENTION AND COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT- INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

Innovative geriatric care programs have developed worldwide in the pas t two decades to better address the special problems and care needs of the growing elderly population. Many of these have been based in the home setting and involved basic concepts of prevention and comprehensi ve geriatric assessment (CGA). Some have focused on periodic screening of relatively healthy and independent elderly persons in their homes and provision of prevention-oriented services, others have targeted mo re frail and disabled individuals (eg. post-hospitalisation), still ot hers involve entire population groups of elderly persons and provide b oth prevention and treatment, A common thread has been the use of CGA to evaluate patient problems, understand needs far care, help arrange for services and plan follow-up. Benefits have included more complete diagnosis, discovery of important treatable problems, improvement in d rug regimens, reductions in use of hospitals and nursing homes, improv ed function and satisfaction and reduced mortality. Meta-analysis has confirmed some of the most important of these benefits: improved funct ional status, reduced mortality and reduced use of institutional servi ces. In this symposium, reports on in-home prevention and geriatric as sessment programs were presented from six countries: Australia, Denmar k, Italy, Switzerland, the UK and the US.