Abstract
Healthy aging has become somewhat of an elusive buzz word in the modern world at a time when it has never been more important for older adults to age in place. Frailty limits an older adult’s ability to age at home and actively seek out supports for healthy aging. Medical practices have very little time to address frailty with the exception of medical interventions. Tools are needed to guide medical providers and community providers to identify, assess and respond to frailty using both clinical and social prescriptions. Our team developed a Regional Center for Health Aging in Northern Canada and tested two new tools, the Healthy Aging Asset Index (HAAI) and Virtual Frailty Screening (VFS) to support the work of frailty response in community. Preliminary results demonstrate that the VFS is an effective tool to screen for frailty and the HAAI is feasible and useful in community settings to support frailty assessment and response for older adults seeking healthy aging. The results of our study has implications for community based senior serving organizations seeking to increase their ability and expand their capacity to support healthy aging at home.
Presenters
Tammy O RourkeAssistant Professor, Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University, Nova Scotia, Canada Anne H. Summach
Full Teaching Professor/Director of NP Programs, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Older adults, Frailty, Aging at home, Assessment tools, Community
