Australia’s first framework for preventing and managing frailty has been developed and it includes a recommendation for annual frailty checks for seniors.
Researchers from University of Queensland (UQ) put together the Australian Consensus Statements on the topic.
They are recommendations which were designed in consultation with healthcare professionals, older adults with lived experience of frailty, and caregivers.
Frailty is a complex clinical syndrome characterised by a decline in a person’s cognitive and physical function and a reduced ability to recover from stresses such as illnesses or injuries.
While many people remain healthy as they age, more than 20% of Australians aged over 65 are estimated to be affected by frailty, which can lead to falls, hospitalisation, worsening mobility and death.
The framework states that primary care offers an ideal setting to screen for risk of frailty as well as track frailty over time and support a tailored approach to prevention and management.
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It suggested yearly screening could take place from the age of 65.
The framework emphasises the use of validated frailty measures to carry out such checks and pointed out that screening must be meaningfully linked to intervention pathways.
“Evidence from stakeholder engagement cautions against using frailty screening tools as standalone diagnostic instruments,” the framework states.
“Rather, they should serve as a trigger for comprehensive assessment and/or tailored care planning to facilitate early identification and proactive management.”
Dr Sakshi Chopra from UQ’s Frazer Institute said the framework filled an important gap.
“Our aim is to reduce long-term complications, take pressure off the health system and offer practical recommendations to support healthcare professionals in delivering consistent and proactive care,” she said.
“By raising awareness and providing guidance to healthcare practices, we hope the framework will empower healthcare professionals and the public to recognise early signs and take action.
“We want to ensure people living with severe frailty continue to be valued and receive appropriate, person-centred care.”
Dr Chopra said the framework outlined practical recommendations for clinicians, such as raising awareness of frailty, personalised counselling on health behaviours, supporting adequate protein intake, structured exercise, meaningful social engagement and tailored care plans.
It includes 19 consensus statements designed to guide frailty prevention and management and focuses on six key pillars – health promotion and screening, nutrition, exercise, social activities, medicine optimisation, and management of severe frailty.
“We have further categorised the pillars to support the management of mild, moderate and severe frailty, something that has not been attempted before,’’ Dr Chopra said.
“We want everyone to take a lifelong approach to frailty prevention, and these pillars can be applied to people of all ages.’’
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