Assessment of functional status in oldest old: The OARS/QAFMI model for care planning

Introduction The geriatric assessment should include the physical, cognitive, emotional and social functional status, allowing a concrete understanding of the oldest old realities for a better health planning. Objectives To assess the functional status in main areas of the elderly's life: social resources, economic resources, mental health, physical health and activities of daily living (ADL). Aims Provide information to health and social policy makers and improve the quality of care, adapting the training of nurses to this new social and health reality. Methods The randomized, stratified (age and gender) sample consisted of individuals aged ≥75, randomly selected and representative of Coimbra's (Portugal) elder residents ( n =11,279; n =1128). The instrument for data collection was the Questionario de Avaliacao Funcional Multidimensional para Idosos/Older Americans Resources and Services (QAFMI/OARS). Results In the social resources, there are significant differences between gender ( P P P Conclusions The results will play an important role in the decisions of the technicians at Health Centres to the planning of older care services and will be disseminate among the responsible entities aiming the improvement of the current policies.