Introduction: This paper investigated the self-assessed needs of the elderly for the services of gerontological centers of non-institutional care in relation to their functional ability. The research was conducted in November 2021 in decentralized Nursing home Split as part of an institutional project entitled: „Self-assessed need of the elderly for the gerontological centers' services (non-institutional care) in Split“ (SOZS-IP - 2020 - 5). Methods and subjects: The functional independence of the elderly was assessed using the Barthel Index modified according to Shah, S., Vanclay, F. and Cooper, B. (MBI) in a telephone survey following the notification of the research and the invitation to participate and their voluntary consent guaranteed anonymity. Questionnaries on socio-demographic characteristics and self assessment of the elderly on the need and choice of offered non-institutional care services were also used. We consecutively enrolled every 2nd participant (aged 65 or older) from the official nursing home waiting list during the period of November 2021. Objective: By gerontological-public health analysis to determine whether there are and what are the needs of the elderly for the gerontological center's services while waiting for accommodation in a decentralized nursing home in Split. Results and discussion: The research showed that the respondents (N=182) most needed „home help services“/average number of points 2.22 (SD 1.01), then „living room service“/average number of points 1.38 (SD 1.22) and „ health, social and psychological services“/average number of points 1.11 (SD 1.00). Also, the researh showed that there is a statistically significant difference (p = <0.001) in the priority respondents' self-assessed needs for the services offered by the gerontology center in relation to their age group, except in the stated need and choice of priority respondents for the Programs of health, social and psychological services (p = 0.156). The results present a statistically significant difference in the priority respondents' self-assessed needs for the gerontology center's services regarding the category of respondents' functional independence (p = <0.001) and regarding the level of social accommodation services (1-3) in which they are distributed (p = < 0.001), but a statistically significant difference wasn't shown in relation to the respondents' sex, as well as regarding the respondents' waiting period for accommodation in a nursing home. Conclusion: Based on the conducted research, it is concluded that the assessment of the functional independence of the elderly is an important gerontological-public health indicator in the planning of non-institutional care for the elderly. The research's results refer to the necessary intersectoral and interdisciplinary gerontological approach in the health protection of the elderly and the need to establish gerontological centers of non-institutional care for the elderly in the city of Split.