Comprehensive geriatric assessment

Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is a process used by healthcare practitioners to assess the status of people who are frail and older in order to optimize their subsequent management. These people often have complex, multiple and interdependent problems (multimorbidity) which make their care more challenging than in younger people, or those with just one medical problem. CGA is the core work of specialists in the care of older people, although many other health care practitioners either have not heard of it, or are not aware of what it actually is. It is also called "multidimensional geriatric assessment." The use of CGA improves the outcomes for people who are older and frail. For example, people who undergo CGA whilst in hospital are more likely to remain in their own home (and less likely to be admitted to a nursing home) up to a year after discharge from hospital when compared with people who received standard medical treatment.