Reid Natasha, Young Adrienne, Baldassar Loretta, Christoffersen Anja, Comans Tracy, Conroy Simon, Etherton-Beer Christopher, Ferris Jason, Singh Maria Fiatarone, Fox Sarah, Gordon Emily H, Ghosh Manonita, Guha Chandana, Hilmer Sarah, Kouladjian O'Donnell Lisa, Logan Benignus, Ludlow Kristiana, Miller Michelle, Morgan Mark, Mudge Alison, Muscedere John, Reidlinger Donna, Rockwood Kenneth, Saunders Rosemary, Ward David, Yates Paul, Hubbard Ruth E
Australian Frailty Network, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Australas J Ageing. 2024 Dec;43(4):852-860. doi: 10.1111/ajag.13365. Epub 2024 Sep 29.
Frailty is an important concept in the care of older adults. Over the past two decades, significant advances have been made in measuring frailty. While it is now well-recognised that frailty status is an important determinant of outcomes from medical illnesses or surgical interventions, frailty measurement is not currently routinely integrated into clinical practice. In the community setting, it is uncommon for general practitioners to deliver frailty-optimised care. In hospitals, there is substantial variability in how people living with frailty are managed. This variability is notable between and even within disciplines. Furthermore, gains from understanding frailty mechanisms and risk factors are not yet applied/implemented at scale to delay the progression of frailty in community-dwellers. The Australian Frailty Network (AFN) is a national collaborative group of researchers, clinicians, non-government organisations, consumers and policymakers, in which the engagement and active involvement of consumers has been embedded from the outset. The AFN aims to generate new knowledge to improve health outcomes, to ensure evidence-based management is translated into clinical practice and to build capacity in multidisciplinary and translational frailty research. Here, we describe the development of the AFN, highlighting important milestones: (i) securing funding for the network and flagship elements; (ii) an inaugural summit to establish the strategic vision, values and scope with end-users; (iii) sabbatical visits to learn from international examples; and (iv) developing the governance structure and an actionable plan encompassing consumer engagement, research, education and policy and practice to maximise impact.
衰弱是老年护理中的一个重要概念。在过去二十年中，衰弱测量取得了重大进展。虽然现在人们已经充分认识到衰弱状态是医疗疾病或手术干预结果的重要决定因素，但目前衰弱测量并未常规纳入临床实践。在社区环境中，全科医生提供优化衰弱护理的情况并不常见。在医院里，对衰弱患者的管理方式存在很大差异。这种差异在不同学科之间甚至同一学科内部都很明显。此外，从对衰弱机制和风险因素的理解中获得的成果尚未大规模应用，以延缓社区居民衰弱的进展。澳大利亚衰弱网络（AFN）是一个由研究人员、临床医生、非政府组织、消费者和政策制定者组成的全国性合作组织，从一开始就将消费者的参与和积极参与纳入其中。AFN旨在生成新知识以改善健康结果，确保基于证据的管理转化为临床实践，并在多学科和转化性衰弱研究方面建设能力。在此，我们描述AFN的发展情况，突出重要里程碑：（i）为该网络和旗舰项目获得资金；（ii）举行首次峰会，与最终用户确立战略愿景、价值观和范围；（iii）进行学术休假访问，借鉴国际范例；以及（iv）制定治理结构和一项涵盖消费者参与、研究、教育、政策及实践的可行动计划，以实现最大影响。
