Research-clinical partnership: GERAS researchers are working with the team of geriatricians, clinic leaders, case managers and nursing staff to integrate best-practices in our Frailty Clinic Initiative –OPTimizing Independence, Mobility and Active Life (OPTIMAL)
Aim: To develop best practices in the assessment and management of frailty at the Centre for Healthy Aging at St. Peter’s Hospital.
Measurement Components:
- Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)
- Chair stand test
- Balance test
- Walk test
- Fried Frailty Phenotype
- Self-report: weight loss, exhaustion, physical activity
- Grip strength
- Walk test
Preliminary findings*: In our pilot study, 60% of geriatric outpatients attending the Centre for Healthy Aging at St. Peter’s Hospital were identified as frail with poor lower extremity function.
Rationale: The development of best practices will help inform individualized treatment plans to optimize independence, mobility and active life in geriatric outpatients.
Components of Success:
- Strengthened relationships between clinical and research staff
- Use of evidence-based practice in frailty assessment and management
- Improved patient outcomes
*Measuring frailty in clinical practice: a comparison of physical frailty assessment methods in a geriatric out-patient clinic.
Pritchard JM, Kennedy CC, Karampatos S, Ioannidis G, Misiaszek B, Marr S, Patterson C, Woo T, Papaioannou A. BMC Geriatr. 2017 Nov 13;17(1):264. doi: 10.1186/s12877-017-0623-0.