Health screening to promote health for the elderly.

Reliable, specific, cost-effective health screening strategies can determine a particular client's health risks. Once those risks are known, the health care provider can develop an individualized program of health promotion to help the client move toward optimal well-being. In order to be cost effective, such a program must be aimed at the health problems most common in the particular population. The research on health screening in the elderly is incomplete. Frequently, the most sensitive screens for common problems are much too expensive to apply to an asymptomatic population, while those that are inexpensive are relatively insensitive. This article reviews the literature and attempts to assemble a set of screening strategies that can be used regularly on members of an elderly population. Counseling approaches intended to reduce an elderly person's risk of major health problems are also reviewed.