Recognising frailty in older patients in our community
Tracks
3
| Sunday, August 4, 2024 |
| 9:00 AM - 9:40 AM |
| C2.5 + C2.6 |
Details
The phenomena of frailty is a complex public health challenge. Frailty impacts an individual’s ability to recover from illness and is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes, declining health status, increased risk of falls, hospitalisation and mortality rates.
The prevalence of frailty increases with age. Older individuals, particularly frail, older individuals are the most common users of health and social care services. The risk of developing frailty is more prevalent amongst individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, sedentary lifestyles and multiple co-morbidities. However, individual frailty levels can be improved through targeted cognitive, nutritional and physical interventions.
Pharmacists can identify signs of frailty and particularly minimise the risk associated with medicine use. Appropriate recognition and assessment of older persons vulnerabilities can mitigate an individual’s functional decline. During this session, you will learn how to identify signs of frailty, the appropriate health professionals to assist individuals experiencing signs of frailty and the role of pharmacists in mitigating the risks of frailty.
Learning objectives
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Define frailty and identify contributing factors for frailty.
2. Discuss the outcomes associated with increasing frailty.
3. Discuss the role of pharmacists in mitigating risks of frailty and managing frail individuals.
Competency standards: 1.5, 1.6, 3.6
Speakers
Dr Chris Bollen
Director
Bollen Health
Recognising frailty in older patients in our community
Biography
Dr Chris Bollen is an Adelaide GP and director of Bollen Health, a management consulting company helping General Practices across Australia to deliver safe and effective care.
He has held or currently holds roles with AMA (SA) Council of General Practice, RACGP SA&NT Faculty Board, Chairperson of SA Divisions, and CEO of Adelaide North East Division of General Practice, Medical Advisor ReturnToWorkSA, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare, Kidney Health Australia, Arthritis SA, Director GP Training at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Primary Care Advisor to University of Adelaide’s Frailty and Healthy Ageing Centre of Research Excellence.
With an interest in improving both clinical and business outcomes, Chris has joined forces with business partner Rod Buchecker to deliver a change leadership program which reduces the risk of health professional burnout. Since 2015, together Chris and Rod have worked with 400+ Australian General Practices interested in improving their businesses to deliver better, more sustainable primary care.
Together with Jane Bollen, BMP Healthcare consulting has delivered many frailty education programs to primary care health professionals across urban and rural South Australia and Sydney. BMP Healthcare Consulting currently holds contracts with Adelaide PHN, Gold Coast PHN and the Hunter, New England, Central Coast PHN for projects focused on raising awareness and the early identification of frailty.
