- Keeping active – the smallest of activities can help
- Thinking about what the individual enjoys can help ensure individuals are moving more.
- Ask for a holistic medical review from the GP
- Medication review
- Nutritional interventions need to be considered, including protein and correcting vitamin D insuffiencey.
”Frailer older adults are those who are identified as being frail or have very low physical or cognitive function, perhaps because of chronic disease such as arthritis, dementia or advanced old age itself. Any increase in the volume and frequency of light activities, and any reduction in sedentary behaviour, is a place to start and contributes towards health. For this group, more strenuous activities are less likely to be feasible. A programme of activities could focus instead on reducing sedentary behaviour and engaging in regular sit-to-stand exercise and short walks, stair climbing, embedding strength and balance activities into everyday life tasks, and increasing the duration of walking, rather than concentrating on intensity.” Healthier for longer – British Geriatric Society
”Exercise can improve physical performance and reduce frailty: exercise in frail older people is indeed effective and relatively safe, and may reverse frailty while sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor.” Healthier for longer – British Geriatric Society
The most important thing to remember is that frailty is not an inevitable consequence of aging.
Older people with moderate to severe frailty are often well known to local health and social care professionals. They are likely to have weak muscles and also usually have other conditions like arthritis, poor eyesight, deafness and memory problems. They will probably walk slowly, get exhausted easily, and struggle to get out of a chair or to climb stairs. They may also present with weight loss, poor nutrition and hydration, fatigue, and generally reduced levels of physical activity.
According to Skills for Health (2018), there is some evidence to suggest that the term ‘frailty’ might not resonate with older people, or their family members or care givers, and that people living with frailty may more often describe themselves using terms such as ‘I’m slowing down’. However, they also emphasise the importance of empowering people living with frailty, as well as their family, friends and carers, to understand the condition, to make the most of available support and to plan effectively for their own current and future care needs.
Frailty is a useful concept because it can help us to identify those people who are at greatest risk of deterioration in their health, wellbeing and ability to live independently. It also helps target training to upskill the workforce so that they are better able to manage the needs of people living with this long-term condition. Capabilities in identifying and assessing frailty are needed to enable people living with frailty to understand their condition and to have access to the most appropriate care and support at every stage of their journey.