The Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly (CANE) is a comprehensive, person-centred needs assessment tool that has been designed for use with older people. It is suitable for use in a variety of clinical and research settings. The CANE has a person-centred approach which allows views of the professional, user and carer to be recorded and compared. The instrument uses the principle that identifying a need means identifying a problem plus an appropriate intervention which will help or alleviate the need. Therefore, the CANE models clinical practice and relies on professional expertise for ratings to be completed accurately. Professionals using the CANE need to have had training and experience working with older people and an adequate knowledge of clinical interviewing and decision-making.