Today, HelpAge International is happy to officially launch the Rapid Assessment Method for Older People (RAM-OP), a quick, simple and low-cost tool to assess the needs and vulnerabilities of older people in humanitarian situations. The rapid assessment method for older people (RAM-OP) is a house-to-house survey that can be used to assess the nutrition status of older people as well as a range of vulnerability factors, some of them specific to old age. The new approach was developed with [url=http://www.validinternational.org]Valid International[/url] and [url=http://www.brixtonhealth.com]Brixton Health[/url] with funding from the ELRHA?s [url=http://www.elrha.org/hif/home/]Humanitarian Innovation Fund[/url] . The method needs a sample of 192 people, a notable improvement on previous techniques needing more than 600 people to take part. The users? manual and other tools are available on the HelpAge website: [url=http://www.helpage.org/RAMOP]www.helpage.org/RAMOP[/url] Please share this with your partners, country offices, country coordinators. For more information please visit [url=http://www.helpage.org/RAMOP]www.helpage.org/RAMOP [/url] or contact me, Pascale Fritsch pfritsch at helpage.org or the co-inventors of RAM-OP: Brixton Health, Mark Myatt mark at brixtonhealth.com, or Valid International, Kristine Albrektsen kristine at validinternational.org (for emails replace "at" with "@")