[Needs assessment across social insurance agencies - potential approaches and prospects].

To enable self-determination and participation equal with others for persons with disabilities, the social insurance agencies involved in rehabilitation provide benefits for rehabilitation and participation. In order to initiate and perform those benefits individually and purposively, it is necessary to detect and assess a potential need early across social insurance agencies. This requirement was strengthened by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The article outlines the legal background and practical framework conditions for the present assessment duty and refers to examples of existing methods for needs assessment, which in general are still too much aligned to specific benefits. In light of these circumstances, a need for action exists in order to implement legal demands relative to needs assessments across social insurance agencies and to advance approaches already in place. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.