Emergency department management of older people living with frailty: a guide for emergency practitioners - Hogervorst, V. M.; Buurman, B. M.; De Jonghe, A.; van Oppen, J. D.; Nickel, C. H.; Lucke, J.; Blomaard, L. C.; Thaur, A.; Mooijaart, S. P.; Banerjee, J.; Wallace, J.; de Groot, B.; et al. (Emerg Med J, 2021)
Emergency Departments (EDs) are increasingly seeing more seriously unwell older people living with frailty. In the context of limited resources and increasing demand it's the ED practitioner's challenge to unpick this constellation of physical, psychological, functional and social issues.To properly assess older people living with frailty at the ED it is crucial to use an holistic approach. This consists of triage with algorithms sensitive to the higher risk of older people living with frailty, a frailty assessment, and an assessment with the help of the principles of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment. Multi-disciplinary care, a tailor-made treatment plan, based on what the person values most, will help the ED practitioner to deliver appropriate and valuable care during the ED stay, but also in transition from hospital to home.
Keywords: journalArticle; *Frail Elderly; *Geriatric Assessment; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Chair of the Frailty/ Older Person's Special Interest Group for the Royal College; Emergency Service, Hospital/*organization & administration; Female; Humans; Male; Research, UK, outside the submitted work. All other authors have nothing to; Triage; acute care; and I am the; assessment; disclose; emergency department; fees from Jay Banerjee Consultancy Ltd, outside the submitted work; geriatrics; of Emergency Medicine, UK. SPC reports grants from National Institute of Health