Frailty in Older Adults: A Case Study
Keywords:
case study, disability, frailty, nurse-led Interdisciplinary team, older adultsAbstract
This article presents an analysis of a case study of frailty in older adults dwelling
in community. The analysis was based on a review of literature concerning the defnition
of frailty, screening and diagnosis, risk factors, and management of frailty in older adults.
According to the analysis presented herein, the article proposes that nurses should serve
as case managers and nurse-led interdisciplinary team specialists to properly manage
this condition.
Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome that is not caused by usual degenerative
conditions. It results in inability to cope with stress and could cause such undesirable
outcomes as diseases, disabilities, and physical, psychological, and social vulnerabilities,
leading to frequent hospitalization, high health expenditure and medical expense per
capita, and increased mortality rate. Frailty can be prevented if health is promoted and
restored before the onset of disability. Screening of frailty in older adults, which is
performed using various multidimensional instruments, is based upon the presence of
three or more of fve phenotypes, namely, muscle weakness, walking at an unusually
slow pace, low level of physical activities, exhaustion, and unintentional weight loss.
Regarding the present case study, frailty was found amongst illiterate, older female
aged higher than 80 with low socio-economic status and insuffcient income, who had
three or more underlying diseases, used four or more medications, received little support
from their family or community, pursued unhealthy lifestyle, and lived in environments
neither physically nor socially friendly to older adults. The gerontological nurses play
an important part of nurse-led role in coordinating effcient management on risk factors
that contribute to physical, psychological, and environmental aspects, in order to prevent
or delay frailty or reduce its severity.
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