The WHO integrated care for older people (ICOPE) Guidelines on community-level interventions to manage declines in intrinsic capacity providing guidance on evidence-based interventions to manage declines in intrinsic capacity in older age is now available. They cover the domains of locomotor, psychological, cognition, vitality and sensory, along with important geriatric syndromes such as urinary incontinence and falls.
One of the aims of the ICOPE approach is to identify individuals experiencing declines in intrinsic capacity so that they may be targeted preventively, or for possible clinical management to avoid or delay adverse health outcomes. Most of the existing risk assessment tools will not help to achieve to this, however, because of a focus on specific diseases, groups of people or particular settings. The interventions recommended in the ICOPE guidelines are expected to be implemented in an integrated care approach that includes the identification of older people in the community at risk of care dependency, followed by a comprehensive assessment and care plan.