La valutazione in psicologia gerontologica

Psychological assessment in gerontology can have different purpose such as diagnosis, monitoring intervention, research, screening and for epidemiological issues. With elderly population the assessment need to multidimensional regarding cognitive, affective, behavioral and functional aspects since the elderly health condition is the results of the interactions of these aspects with somatic and environmental factors and sre important for the planning of interventions. For cognitive aspects tools are available for screening purpose, for differential diagnosis and also for the staging of neurocognitive disorders. For the affective domains (anxiety and depression) some tools, developed for elderly population are available, while for instruments developed for adults some psychometric adaptation is needed. A well validated instruments are available for the assessment of psychological and behavioral symptoms in dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders. For functional different instruments are used in elderly populations and are important not only for diagnostic purpose but also in planning interventions