Abstract
Frailty is gaining attention as a relatively common condition among older people, with significant negative impacts on both individuals and health systems worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that frailty may be reversible with appropriate intervention, leading to proposals that the primary care setting is an ideal context for the proactive identification and management of frailty. Most commonly however, care of the frail older person is dominated by acute care and crisis management. In Australia, little is known about how primary care providers view frailty, which is problematic given the potential for improved prevention and management of frailty through primary care initiatives. Consequently, our qualitative descriptive study aims to explore the attitudes, perceptions, and experiences of Australian GPs towards frailty and frailty screening. We conducted three focus groups with 22 General Practitioners (GPs) in urban and rural South Australia. Using framework analysis we identified the following three preliminary themes reflecting GPs perspectives on frailty and frailty screening: (I) Frailty as a state of progressive functional decline and increased risk of negative outcomes; (II) the use of informal ‘intuitive’ screening rather than validated screening tools to recognise frailty among older patients, and (III) mixed attitudes towards the use of screening tools in general practice. A number of key barriers and enablers to frailty identification, treatment, and the integration of screening with usual care were also identified, and implications for policy and practice are discussed.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Medical Perspectives on Aging, Health, Wellness
KEYWORDS
Frailty Primary care
