Key Messages for a Frailty Prevention and Management Policy in Europe from the ADVANTAGE JOINT ACTION Consortium

Abstract

In the 2015 Ageing Report, the European Commission (EC) and the Economic Policy Committee stated that coping with the challenge posed by an ageing population will require determined policy action in Europe, particularly in reforming pension, health care and long-term care systems. The concern for this situation motivated the EC, the Parliament and many of the Member States (MS) to co-fund, in the 2015 call of the Third European Health Programme of the European Union 2014-2020, the first Joint Action (JA) on the prevention of frailty. ADVANTAGE JA brings together 33 partners from 22 MSs for 3 years. It aims to build a common understanding on frailty to be used in the MSs by policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the management, both at individual and population level, of older people who are frail or at risk for developing frailty throughout the European Union (EU). It is a formidable challenge but also a great opportunity for concerted action resulting in fostering effective and successful policies in frailty prevention and management in the participating MS. The Consortium has 2 years of hard work ahead to contribute to the needed change for frailty related disability free Europe. The first practical step towards this aim was the preparation of a document: the State of the Art on Frailty Report to support an overview of evidence of what works and what does not work on frailty prevention and management. Subsequently, this will be reflected in the advice that the JA will give to policy makers at MS level. Overall, these messages intend to be an instrument of added value to advocate for policy driven decisions on frailty prevention and management in the JA participating MSs and subsequently towards a frailty related disability free older population in Europe. The aim of this paper is to describe ADVANTAGE JA general structure, approach and recommendations towards a European health and social policy which will support frailty prevention in the participating MS.

Keywords: Frailty; diagnostic tools; disability; long-term care; older people; policy.