How you can help older Australians AVOID frailty

The AVOID Frailty intervention has already been implemented in four Canadian cities, and a team from the University of Adelaide will work with residents in the north-western Adelaide council to adapt it for an Australian context.   

“Without intervention, one in five older residents are frail,” says project co-lead Professor Renuka Visvanathan, Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University’s Adelaide Geriatrics Training & Research with Aged Care (GTRAC) Centre.

“Like Canada, Australia also has an ageing population, and it is important to provide opportunities and resources for older people to age well and avoid frailty. We have been collaborating with the Canadian Frailty Network and are excited to be bringing the AVOID intervention to Adelaide,” says Professor Visvanathan.

AVOID is based upon the idea that physical Activity, Vaccination, Optimised medication, social Interaction and a healthy Diet meaningfully contribute to better health in old age.

The program can help people self-asses their risk profile for frailty to be in a better position to contemplate the behavioural changes that can be made to improve their health.

During Phase 1 of the study, 50 participants will attend training workshops and participate in fortnightly coffee chats about their assignment with project co-lead Dr Helen Barrie from the University of South Australia. They will record their daily activities for 12 weeks and provide feedback on the program through an online portal.

Phase 2 will see the participants and key stakeholders come together to interpret the findings of Phase 1. This will inform the Phase 3 trial, during which City of Charles Sturt residents aged 60 years or older will be recruited to test whether engaging in AVOID Frailty, rather than usual care, over six months will reduce their frailty risk.

Dr Joanne Dollard, a research fellow with GTRAC, says community engagement is crucial to AVOID’s success in Australia.

“Any intervention has to have a good fit with, and be relevant to, the local context, which is why we want to work with local residents to adapt the intervention,” she says.

“Citizen scientists are partners in knowledge generation in this project. They will add their knowledge of their neighbourhood to their new learnings about frailty, and how to avoid frailty, to help the research team adapt and trial an intervention.”

Professor Visvanathan and Dr Dollard will work with University of Adelaide colleagues Associate Professor Graeme Tucker and Dr Mark Thompson, Dr Barrie and Ms Joanne Wilson from the University of South Australia, and partners at Adelaide Primary Health Network and City of Charles Sturt. The project is supported by funding from The Hospital Research Foundation.

One in five residents of the City of Charles Sturt are aged 65 years or older, making it the ideal community to participate in the co-design of the AVOID program.

“With 20 per cent of residents in Charles Sturt now reaching older age, it is important to take a public health approach to ensure they remain healthy, age well and avoid frailty in the future,” says Professor Visvanathan, who is also Head of Unit of Geriatric Medicine at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

“These figures are reflective of most of South Australia, which also makes the City of Charles Sturt a valid sub-set of wider South Australia.”

To register your interest in participating in the study, please contact Ms Wilson on 8302 1381 or joanne.wilson@unisa.edu.au.