An Impairment and Disability Assessment and Treatment Protocol for Community-Living Elderly Persons

Abstract

A simple, standardized assessment and intervention protocol, such as the one described, could aid physical therapists in evaluating and treating community-living elderly persons by improving communication among care providers, providing better documentation for reimbursers, and ensuring a direct linkage between assessment and intervention, thus simplifying the development of a treatment plan for elderly persons with complicated or multiple impairments. The ultimate test of this assessment and intervention protocol will be ascertainment of the goal of the protocol, namely a reduction in falls and improvement in mobility among multiply and chronically ill elderly persons.