Aims: To develop consensus on the prevention and management of frailty among older community-dwellers.
Methods: To determine the scope of the consensus statements, a stakeholder meeting was convened with a multidisciplinary panel of frailty and ageing experts across Australia. Six working groups were established: health promotion and screening, nutrition, exercise, social prescribing, optimisation of medicine and management of severe frailty. Through iterative rounds of discussion, the working groups were guided by rapid systematic reviews of the literature and expert opinion to design consensus statements for each domain. The final set of compiled statements were presented to six consumers consulted as ‘experts with lived experience’ to incorporate consumer perspectives.
Results: The working groups drafted 28 statements highlighting:(i) prioritisation of frailty awareness, prevention strategies and early self-management, (ii) embedding population-based frailty screening into health practices for risk stratification, coupled with opportunistic screening practices, (iii) pairing corrective dietary practices focusing on balanced diet and managing nutritional deficiencies with a progressive exercise routine combining aerobic and resistance training, (iv) implementing social prescribing with personalised, culturally appropriate activities, integrating family and professional support, (v) managing medicine-related harms through comprehensive medication reviews, clear communication and optimisation strategies to ensure safety and independence, (vi) providing comprehensive geriatric assessment, clear communications during care transition and support for advance care planning for older adults with severe frailty.
Conclusions: These statements provide a framework for healthcare professionals to deliver evidence-based frailty management in clinical practice.