Systematic review of EASY-care needs assessment for community-dwelling older people.
BACKGROUND
undertaking comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGAs) combined with long-term health and social care management can improve the quality of life of older people [ 1]. The EASY-Care tool is a CGA instrument designed for assessing the physical, mental and social functioning and unmet health and social needs of older people in community settings or primary care. It has also been used as a frailty assessment tool and for gathering population-level data.


OBJECTIVE
to review the evidence of reliability, validity and acceptability of EASY-Care and its appropriateness for assessing the needs of community-dwelling older people.


METHODS
systematic search of literature databases using pre-defined search terms (January 1994-May 2014) for English language articles reporting on the reliability, validity, acceptability and implementation of EASY-Care in primary care and community settings. Eligible articles were critically reviewed. Discussion papers mapping professionals' use of the tool were also included as these could be considered an aspect of validity.


RESULTS
twenty-nine papers met the inclusion criteria and underwent data extraction. A narrative synthesis was performed, because there was a variety of quantitative and qualitative outcomes and characteristics. Reliability evidence for EASY-Care is minimal. Evidence for validity is good, and it has received numerous positive endorsements of acceptability in international settings from older people and practitioners.


CONCLUSIONS
evidence supports the use of EASY-Care for individual needs assessment; further research is needed for other uses. Of the papers that made statements about who should administer EASY-Care, the majority indicated that nurses were preferable to self-completion.
National Institute for Health Research, CLAHRC East Midlands, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Christopher
C
Craig
National Institute for Health Research, CLAHRC East Midlands, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Neil
N
Chadborn
National Institute for Health Research, CLAHRC East Midlands, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Gina
G
Sands
Warwick Medical School, Division of Mental Health and Well-being, University of Warwick, Warwick, UK.
Helena
H
Tuomainen
National Institute for Health Research, CLAHRC East Midlands, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
John
J
Gladman
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011788:Quality of Life
EASY-Care; geriatric assessment; needs assessment; older people; systematic review