Using Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in Identifying Care Goals and Referral Services in a Frailty Intervention Clinic

The proportion of older adults and frail adults in Canada is expected to rise significantly in upcoming years. Currently, a considerable number of older adults do not actively participate in developing their own care plans; prior research has indicated several benefits of patient engagement in this process. Thus, we conducted a mixed methods study that examined the prevalence of rehabilitation goals and identified these for 305 community dwelling older adults referred to a frailty intervention clinic utilizing Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) between 2014 and 2018. Top patient concerns included mobility (84%), services, systems, and policies (51%), sensory functions and pain (50%), and self-care or domestic life (47%). The most common referrals or recommendations for patients included further follow-up with a physician or specialist (36%), referral to an onsite falls prevention clinic (31%), and medication modifications (31%). Based upon these findings, we recommend greater utilization of CGA within a team-based approach to improve patient care by allowing for greater collaboration and shared decision-making by health-care providers. Moreover, CGA can be an effective tool to meet the complex and unique health-care needs of frail patients while incorporating patient goals. This is vitally important considering the predicted growth in the population of frail and/or older patients, as well as the current challenges and shortfalls in meeting the health-care needs of this population.