Frailty

I talk about frailty a lot. I hear the word ‘frailty’ a lot. In the clinical environment, across academic literature, in the media to describe weakened politicians and even from my 3-year-old son (courtesy of the snail).

I’ve been reading a lot recently about the word Frailty and its importance within Medicine for Older People. We see a lot of frail people and as geriatricians they are our core business both inside and outside the hospital.

During the pandemic, it has been my great privilege to contribute to the Scottish Government’s Clinical and Professional Advisory Group on Care Homes (CPAG).

The newly formed End of Life Care Special Interest Group (SIG) is proud to launch our online compendium of guidance on End of life Care in Frailty.

We examined whether poor early life circumstances lead to an increased risk of becoming frail in older age. We studied over 6,000 older Chinese men and women (at least 60 years) who were not frail; they were voluntary participants in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

Advantage is the first European joint action to prevent and manage frailty. Twenty-two countries across Europe are collaborating to raise awareness of Frailty as a public health priority and to agree on an evidence-based Frailty Prevention Approach.

It takes time to recuperate when getting over an acute illness but can ‘preventing deconditioning’ help? In a clinical context, we can define deconditioning syndrome as ‘A complex process of physiological change induced by inactivity that can affect multiple body systems and may result in decline in physical, psychological and functional abilities’.

A toolkit has been developed by NHS RightCare in collaboration with NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Older People, Age UK, Getting It Right First Time and The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Do you know how many people in your hospital are living with frailty? Do you know where these patients are in your hospital? Why does it matter?