Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;38(9):724-729.
doi: 10.1136/emermed-2020-210014. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

Emergency department management of older people living with frailty: a guide for emergency practitioners

Vera M Hogervorst  1   2 , Bianca M Buurman  2 , Annemarieke De Jonghe  3 , James David van Oppen  4   5 , Christian Hans Nickel  6 , Jacinta Lucke  7 , Laura C Blomaard  8 , Arjun Thaur  9 , Simon P Mooijaart  8 , Jay Banerjee  4   10 , James Wallace  11 , Bas de Groot  12 , Simon Paul Conroy  4
Affiliations

Emergency department management of older people living with frailty: a guide for emergency practitioners

Vera M Hogervorst et al. Emerg Med J. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

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: acute care; assessment; emergency department; geriatrics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: JB reports personal fees from NHS Elect, England, personal fees from Jay Banerjee Consultancy Ltd, outside the submitted work; and I am the Chair of the Frailty/ Older Person’s Special Interest Group for the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, UK. SPC reports grants from National Institute of Health Research, UK, outside the submitted work. All other authors have nothing to disclose.

LinkOut - more resources