Preliminary Assessment Tool: Home care needs for aging adults
This preliminary assessment tool identifies the important signs to look out in aging adults who are just beginning to lose the ability to perform activities of daily living. The assessment is the first step to help determine whether there is a need to provide extra home care, consider assisted living, consult the family doctor, or book a professional assessment to determine care needs.
This tool is for guidance purposes only as it does not take the place of a diagnosis or professional evaluation. We have listed some of the signs below to make this initial evaluation easier. If you notice any of these signs affecting you or your loved ones, it might be a time to implement solutions to keep safe, independent, and comfortable while maintaining dignity.
Few or no memories, having a difficult time to recall something that took place hours or minutes ago. Yes ○ No ○
Having trouble communicating, finding it difficult to find the right words, forgetting words. Yes ○ No ○
Withdrawing from activities that were once enjoyed, no longer interacting with people, dissociation / loss of interest. Yes ○ No ○
Experiencing mood swings? Bouts of confusion, aggression and depression. Yes ○ No ○
Failing to distinguish the difference between sarcasm and seriousness. Irritable attitude. Yes ○ No ○
Failing to perform simple tasks or solve simple problems and make decisions. Yes ○ No ○
Continuously repeating tasks, finding it difficult to concentrate or focus. Yes ○ No ○
Loss of balance or inability to judge distances or depths, experiencing falls, unusual tearing or bruising of skin from falls. Yes ○ No ○
Failing to cope with changes happening in life. Yes ○ No ○
Mismanagement of finance: late payments, returned checks. Yes ○ No ○
Experiencing uncontrollable shaking and visual hallucinations. Yes ○ No ○
A decline in personal hygiene, inability to perform personal and oral care, body odours or bad breath. Yes ○ No ○
Mismanagement of meals, lack of nutritious foods, weight loss. Yes ○ No ○
Failing to recognize family members or friends, forgetting names. Yes ○ No ○
Dirty, cluttered, disorganized home, unwanted smells, and accumulation of mail, newspapers, or brochures. Yes ○ No ○
Change of spoken language, reverting back to their mother tongue. Yes ○ No ○
Finding expired medications or medications that are not being taken. Yes ○ No ○
Continuously wearing the same outfit, failing to notice stains, wearing dirty clothes, and failing to distinguish night clothes from day clothes. Yes ○ No ○