Frailty Prevention Program to Prevent Frailty Among Older African Americans (FPP Trial)

Between 20-60% of older adults experience frailty as they age. Frailty is a clinical state of increased vulnerability resulting from aging-associated declines in biological reserve across multiple physiologic systems. Because of the lack of biological reserve, relatively minor physical or psychological assaults have the potential to trigger a cascade of negative sequelae for frail older adults resulting in adverse health outcomes including mortality, disability in basic and instrumental activities of daily living, hospitalization and emergency visits, and institutionalization in community-dwelling older adults. Despite the potential personal and economic consequences of frailty syndrome, frailty is not an irreversible process. For example, a 4.5-year longitudinal study conducted by Gill et al., (2006) demonstrated that of their 754 community dwelling older adults, 58% had at least one change in frailty status during the study period and that approximately one third of these transitions were from a state of greater frailty to one of lesser frailty, suggesting that it is possible to reverse the frailty trajectory. Nonetheless, there is a lack effective means of reversing frailty or slowing the progression of older adults along the frailty continuum.The purpose of the proposed research is to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an occupational therapy intervention delivered through the primary care setting for improving frailty status and physical functioning among older adults ages 55 and older who are pre-frail when compared to usual care.