Defining needs, defining systems: a critical analysis.

This article examines the model of need assessment commonly used in social service programs for older adults. Whereas this model defines need as an individual attribute, remediable through programmatic intervention, an alternative formulation suggests that organizational imperatives shape the definition of client need while obscuring their own role in the production of this information. A case study and historical analysis assess the roots of this process and its consequences for clients, staff, and aging programs.