The World Health Organization does not define healthy ageing as the absence of disease. The definition is the preservation of functional ability that makes daily life possible in older age. That ability has two parts: the person’s current intrinsic capacity and the environment in which they live.
Intrinsic capacity is the combined strength of body and mind at a given moment: being able to walk, sustain energy, remember, maintain mood, see, and hear. Cesari and colleagues group this into five domains. The World Health Organization’s integrated care pathway for older people (ICOPE: Integrated Care for Older People) is built to detect decline in the same domains at primary care and community level.
Five domains
- Locomotion — walking, balance, muscle strength
- Vitality — fatigue, appetite, weight change
- Cognition — memory, orientation, attention
- Psychological capacity — loss of interest, depressive symptoms
- Sensory capacity — vision and hearing
Each domain is scored as 0 preserved · 1 mild · 2 marked. A single laboratory result or a single organ measure does not replace this list. Screening does not make a diagnosis; it shows where reserve is thinning.
Place in the programme
In the VascularVita longevity programme, ICOPE screening is the entry to A–F stage assignment. Domain scores are read together with frailty and activities of daily living (ADL). The flow is on the ageing stages page. The same form is applied in individual assessment.
Related articles: frailty and early warning signs, healthy lifespan (healthspan). Framework: longevity.