Frailty
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Tips for Careworkers:
Frailty

What it is: Signs of frailty include unplanned weight loss, slow walking speed, weakness and low physical activity with the person feeling exhausted or tired.

Why it matters: Older people are not always frail or dependent. After the age of 80 years it is more common. Frailty affects a person’s health, and ability to recover from poor health. Frailty and dementia together predict a more rapid decline and shorter life expectancy.

Knowing when older people with life-limiting illness are frail, helps us to know they are approaching death. Careworkers spend a lot of time with the older person and by reporting signs of frailty they can make certain that the right care is received.

What I need to know: Older people who are frail often have poor health, many conditions, falls and disability, as well as longer stays in hospital, and are more likely to die.

When a person is frail or at risk of becoming frail, illnesses such as infections are harder to recover from.

Older people and people with a life-limiting illness should be monitored for frailty so that care plans can be made to support their needs.

Do

Look out for non-specific signs of frailty:

  • extreme fatigue
  • slow walking speed
  • unexplained weight loss
  • many infections.
 

Do

Look out for specific signs of frailty:

  • frequent falls
  • fear of falling
  • restricted activity
  • delirium (acute change to their mental state)
  • fluctuating disability (having good days and bad days) with, for example,
    • loss of interest in food
    • difficulty getting dressed.
 

My reflections:

 

What are some of the signs of frailty? How do I report these?

 

How many people in my care could be considered fail?

 

At what age does frailty become more common?


 

For references and the latest version of all the Tip Sheets visit www.palliaged.com.au/Practice-Centre/For-Careworkers

 

CareSearch is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
Updated July 2022

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