Healthy ageing and caring

Approaches with signposting to keeping active, engaged and independent, including access to frailty-friendly living and homes.

What works

  • Look after your feet, mouth, teeth
  • Get moving – including aerobic, resistance, balance and flexibility training,
  • Stop smoking
  • Eat well, consider nutritional supplements (e.g. vitamin D)
  • Drink alcohol sensibly
  • Get a hearing and eye test
  • Keep an active mind, sleep well
  • Keep safe at home, keep warm
  • Get vaccinated
 Benefits

  • Provide health benefits
  • A protective effect into retirement
  • Increase physical activity, reduce long-term exhaustion and improve energy intake
  • Prevent frailty progression
  • Prevent fractures (for vitamin D and calcium supplementation)
  • Reduce hospital admissions and mortality

Useful resources

Healthier for Longer – BGS https://www.bgs.org.uk/sites/default/files/content/resources/files/2019-11-04/BGS%20Healthier%20for%20Longer.pdf

Impact of healthy ageing –  Advantage managing Frailty http://advantageja.eu/images/WP6-Managing-frailty-at-individual-level-a-Systematic-Review.pdf

Living Well in Communities with frailty – NHS Scotland https://ihub.scot/media/1892/lwic-frailty_evidence-for-what-works_jul18.pdf

Encourage Healthy Ageing with a healthy living passport for empowerment and self-care – https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/hlthy-ageing-brochr.pdf

WHO clinical consortium on healthy ageing – https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272437/WHO-FWC-ALC-17.2-eng.pdf

PHE guide to community-centred approaches for health and wellbeing – https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/28/health-matters-community-centred-approaches-for-health-and-wellbeing

A decade of Healthy Ageing – https://www.who.int/ageing/decade-of-healthy-ageing

Evidence summaries

Age UK. Healthy Ageing evidence review. https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/reports-and-publications/reports-and-briefings/health–wellbeing/rb_april11_evidence_review_healthy_ageing.pdf

Pre Frail 80: Multifactorial Intervention to Prevent Progression of Pre-Frailty to Frailty in the Elderly.

Gené Huguet L1, Navarro González M, Kostov B, Ortega Carmona M, Colungo Francia C, Carpallo Nieto M, Hervás Docón A, Vilarrasa Sauquet R, García Prado R, Sisó-Almirall A.

A multifactorial interdisciplinary intervention reduces frailty, increases function and is cost-effective in older adults who are frail- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2015.03.588

Impact and measures

We know that the frailty has a significant impact of people, populations and health and care systems. Frail older people are highly susceptible to adverse health outcomes, such as falls, disabilities, institutionalisation, hospitalisation and death. However, trying to understand this impact on populations and health and care system is challenging due poor recording of frailty status and the lack of information sharing and interoperability that exists. The following examples of impact are guestimates based on current intelligence.

  • Potential Impact
    • In the North East and North Cumbria region, an additional  2,400 people could progress to mild frailty as a result of obesity, a further 2,400 due to smoking and nearly 3,000 more mildly frail people as a result of excess alcohol consumption.
  • Potential measures
    • People aged 65 years or over who have had a frailty assessment
    • Dementia: 65+ years old estimated diagnosis rate
    • Flu immunisation rate in people aged 65 years and over

For more information to aid local delivery see what works, resource links, benefits, evidence, local stories and case studies as well as impact/measures in Frailty Toolkit page 44.