Project Overview

Frailty is common in older adults, but it is not assessed as standard clinical practice in Canada. Frail individuals are less likely to avoid or recover from illness/injury, resulting in increased rates of hospitalization and death. However, unlike some age-related conditions, it is possible to reverse declining health to prevent frailty or restore a person to non-frail status. We have developed a system for at-home use (FUSE) that includes wearable biosensors and a web-based ‘dashboard’ that can 1) monitor health-related behaviors, and 2) provide personalized feedback to help manage health-related behaviors. These behaviors include things like physical activity, sleep and mobility.. Project activities will be grounded in a participatory research approach with input from individuals who represent end users of the system (or the information gained from it) including older adults, community program representatives, and clinicians. Together, the team will work to advance FUSE so that it includes other behaviors specifically important for frailty prevention. We believe that empowering individuals to self-manage daily health-related behaviors is a critical and promising approach to frailty prevention.