Prior to and during health assessment of patients, factors such as the health status of the patient/client, the age and cognitive ability of the patient, learning disability as well as gender issues need to be considered as these can have an impact on the assessment process. This chapter discusses these factors, and also explores some of the essential ethical aspects of the process of completing a patient assessment such as privacy, confidentiality, respect for dignity and truthfulness. All these aspects can be subsumed under the principle of respect for persons. The environment within which assessment takes place could also impact on the assessment process. The clinical differences between adults and children, and the different levels of cognition in children at various stages of development can affect how children may be assessed. The chapter also outlines the differences in health‐related behavior of men and women.
