SUPPORTING GLOBAL STANDARDS OF HEALTHY AGEING

SUPPORTING GLOBAL STANDARDS OF HEALTHY AGEING

• TribecaCare
• 16th Mar 2026

 

A main part of this Blog quotes the WHO ICOPE Document: Integrated Care for Older People: Guidance for Person-centred Assessment and Pathways in Primary Care (ICOPE Handbook), Second Edition. This Handbook has been developed in collaboration with experts in healthy ageing and the care of older people through WHO’s Clinical Consortium on Healthy Ageing (CCHA) and with colleagues across a range of technical units and regions in WHO (World Health Organisation). Tribeca Eldercare’s Spectrum of Care and Support is aligned to these international policies and standards.

 

Tribeca Eldercare now brings you this Blog for information and awareness on the different parameters of care for elders with which the organisation is aligned and which follow global standards.

 

The World Health Organisation 2015 World Report on Ageing and Health

 

This Report defines the goal of healthy ageing as “helping people to develop and maintain the functional ability that enables well-being in older age”.

 

“Functional ability is defined as the “health-related attributes that enable people to be and to do what they have reason to value”. Functional ability consists of the intrinsic capacity of the individual, their environment and the interactions between the two. Environments comprise all the factors in the extrinsic world (home and home surroundings, community and broader society) that form the context of an individual’s life.”

 

 

“Factors within these environments include the built (physical) environment, people and their relationships, attitudes and values, health and social policies, systems and services. Intrinsic capacity is “the composite of all the physical and mental capacities that an individual can draw on”.

 

 

Understanding Intrinsic Capacity and Functional Ability

 

“This concept of healthy ageing inspires a new focus for health care for older people – a focus on optimizing people’s intrinsic capacity and functional ability as they age. As an older person’s intrinsic capacity changes, so too will their needs and preferences for health services and social care and support. The delivery of a continuum of integrated care, following the trajectory of intrinsic capacity and functional ability, is crucial in order to meet these diverse needs and support optimal functional ability.”

 

“A continuum of care includes the full spectrum of care, from prevention and promotion to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care and responds to a person’s changing needs and intrinsic capacity, and disease progression. Older people with significant loss of intrinsic capacity not only need health care, but also appropriate social care and support to compensate for their loss.”

 

Carers and Assistive Products

 

“This support may be provided by carers and can be facilitated by the use of assistive products to create an enabling environment. Long-term care (LTC) includes activities undertaken by others to support people with significant loss of intrinsic capacity to maintain a level of functional ability and sustain a dignified life, consistent with their basic rights and fundamental freedoms.”

 

“Long-term care can be provided in various settings such as home, community and residential facilities. Much of the day-to-day care needed by older people is provided by carers, often family members, who also require support.”

 

The Key to Supporting Healthy Ageing

 

“The key to supporting healthy ageing for all is optimizing people’s intrinsic capacity and functional ability throughout the life course. Care-dependency can be reduced, delayed or prevented if the declines in intrinsic capacity are promptly identified, assessed, diagnosed and managed including through creating an enabling physical and social environment.”

 

“The declines across the domains of intrinsic capacity are interrelated and so require an integrated and person-centred approach to assessment and management. Older people are key actors in their own health and should be empowered to understand their health, make their own decisions and set their own goals. Their meaningful engagement, and that of their carers, is crucial”.

 

“Health workers in primary care, including in the community, can identify older people with loss(es) in intrinsic capacity and provide evidence-based interventions by using this guidance and adapting it to their context. Community stakeholders have an important role to play in supporting the delivery of integrated care for older people, and empowering them to engage with self-care and self-management.” 

 

How Providers like Tribeca Eldercare Help

 

Intervening to optimize intrinsic capacity and functional ability

 

“Identifying losses in intrinsic capacity provides an opportunity to intervene to slow or reverse the declines and maintain intrinsic capacity and functional ability. Health workers in primary care, including community stakeholders, can detect declines in intrinsic capacity.”

 

“Many of the characteristics and behaviour that can determine or affect intrinsic capacity can be modified. For example, health and lifestyle advice can be provided stressing the importance of healthy diet, being physically active and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle, staying socially connected, vaccination and when and where to seek health services. These behaviours not only help directly with the maintenance of intrinsic capacity, but also reduce the risk of diseases that can contribute to losses in capacity.”

 

“ICOPE in primary care supports these healthy behaviours and wider efforts towards optimizing intrinsic capacity and managing risk factors in the second half of life. Repeated assessments over time and regular follow up make it possible to monitor any changes in intrinsic capacity while also managing chronic diseases. Specific interventions to address declines in intrinsic capacity as well as to provide social care and support can be offered in a timely manner. Multicomponent interventions that address different declines appear to be effective because of the interaction between the intrinsic capacity domains.”

 

“Modifications to an older person’s physical and social environment become increasingly important as intrinsic capacity declines, in order to optimize functional ability. Five domains of functional ability can all be supported by changes to an older person’s home, home surroundings and other external environments.”

 

“For example, making changes at home to reduce the risk of falls, or providing assistive products such as mobility aids can support older people to be mobile, while providing information on opportunities to engage with local community events and groups can encourage continued social contribution, as seen in examples provided by WHO’s Global Network for Age friendly Cities and Communities.”

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1303855598443578&set=a.614329964062815

 

Tribeca’s New Experience Centre at Ajoy Nagar, Kolkata now offers senior citizens in Kolkata an opportunity to get an Assessment and Advisory for their home safety needs with Assistance for procuring the necessary equipment and resources –  from basic home safety aids to bedroom and bathroom safety aids and mobility aids.

 

Call today and make an appointment for your visit. +91 80622 55100.

 

This article has been written by Anuradha Bhattacharjee, Communications Consultant with Tribeca Eldercare