New Report from Prestigious NIA-Funded Conference Looks at Integrating Frailty Research into Care as We Age
June 20, 2017 (New York)—Though it is one of the most frequently used health indicators as more and more of us age, frailty—the medical term for increased vulnerability to declines in health or a loss of independence—remains under-studied and under-utilized, so say researchers reporting on a prestigious conference hosted by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), with support from the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) and The John A. Hartford Foundation. Conference findings, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, are poised to advance not only a consensus definition for frailty but also our understanding of its biology, assessment, and role in improving care across several specialties, from cardiology and geriatrics to behavioral and social sciences.
Convened in 2015 for recipients of the NIA’s Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists Transition into Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) program, the NIA “U13” conference brought together more than 75 scholars, researchers, leaders in the fields of aging and frailty, and NIA representatives to present and further stimulate research on frailty, particularly across the array of disciplines involved in the high-quality, person-centered care we all will need as we age.