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This article discusses the different definitions and operationalizations of frailty in older people. The two main approaches to defining frailty are physical frailty, which focuses on biological and medical factors, and a multidimensional approach that considers cognitive, social, psychological, and environmental factors. The choice of frailty measurement can have a significant impact on estimates of frailty prevalence and study outcomes. The authors argue that the choice of frailty definition should depend on the context, setting, and aim of the study. They recommend more comparative studies to assess the impact of frailty measurements on sample and study outcomes. [Extracted from the article]

This paper aims to give an overview of the different sources of income and the expenditures of community-dwelling older adults and to what extent they can make ends meet to explore the affordability of care and support at home. Despite research on the affordability of residential care, evidence on the cost of 'ageing in place' is still missing. 173 questionnaires were gathered within a non-random sample of community-dwelling older adults (60+). Both frequencies and bivariate tests (to explore whether there are certain risk groups with low incomes and high expenditures) were performed on the data. Results indicate the variety of income sources, the necessity of financial compensations to make ends meet and that especially older women and older tenants are at risk for facing financial difficulties. Also, this research indicates that 'ageing in place', especially for older adults with care needs, is not always affordable and can be a challenge within our ageing society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frail, older care recipients are often thought of as individuals with a decreased mastery of everyday life skills. Various authors have proposed to acknowledge a relational dimension of mastery, defined as the ability to maintain control over one's life with the help of others. This study explores how frail, older adults experience relational aspects of mastery and the role of their informal caregivers in maintaining these aspects of mastery over the care process. Qualitative interviews (N = 121) were conducted in 2016 with potentially frail, community‐dwelling older adults participating in the Detection, Support and Care for Older people: Prevention and Empowerment (D‐SCOPE) project. A secondary analysis of 65 interviews reveals that, according to frail, older adults, informal caregivers contribute in various ways to the preservation of their mastery. This differs across the four elements of care: caring about (attentiveness), taking care of (responsibility), care‐giving (competence), and care‐receiving (responsiveness). However, in some cases, older adults experienced a loss of mastery; for example, when informal caregivers did not understand their care needs and did not involve them in the decision, organisation, and provision of care. A relational dimension of mastery needs to be acknowledged in frail, older care recipients since stimulating mastery is a crucial element for realising community care objectives and person‐centred and integrated care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, policymakers assume that informal networks will provide care for frail older people. While the literature has mainly discussed the role of the family, broader social networks are also considered to be important. However, these social networks can diminish in later life. This systematic review investigates whether the social environment increases the risk of frailty or helps to prevent it. Findings from 15 original studies were classified using five different factors, which denoted five dimensions of the social environment: (a) social networks, (b) social support, (c) social participation, (d) subjective neighborhood experience, and (e) socioeconomic neighborhood characteristics. The discussion highlights that the social environment and frailty are indeed related, and how the neighborhood dimensions and social participation had more consistent results than social support and social networks. Conclusively, recommendations are formulated to contemplate all dimensions of the social environment for further research examining frailty and community care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:This paper investigates risk profiles of frailty among older people, as these are essential for detecting those individuals at risk for adverse outcomes and to undertake specific preventive actions. Frailty is not only a physical problem, but also refers to emotional, social, and environmental hazards. Methods:Using data generated from the Belgian Ageing Studies, a cross-sectional study (n= 28,049), we tested a multivariate regression model that included sociodemographic and socioeconomic indicators as well as four dimensions of frailty, for men and women separately. Results:The findings indicated that for both men and women, increased age, having no partner, having moved house in the previous 10 years, having a lower educational level and having a lower household income are risk characteristics for frailty. Moreover, when looking at the different frailty domains, different risk profiles arose, and gender-specific risk characteristics were detected. Discussion:This paper elaborates on practical implications, and formulates a number of future research recommendations to tackle frailty in an aging society. The conclusion demonstrates the necessity for a thorough knowledge of risk profiles of frailty, as this will save both time and money and permit preventive actions to be more individually tailored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]