The Frailty Matters Project

Abstract

Preventing and managing frailty is a new area for many community practitioners; yet, frailty specific-education remains limited. This collaborative project aimed to understand and enhance the knowledge, confidence and capability of community nurses to manage frailty in a community setting. A person-centred coaching and educational programme was co-developed with community nurse participants to strengthen their leadership role in managing frailty within interprofessional teams. The “Frailty House” was created as an educational framework for the elements that participants described as important in order to live well with frailty, built on a foundation of leadership and coaching skills. Thematic content analysis of the data revealed the added value of combining technical knowledge and relational skills-building with peer support and coaching. All recognised the challenge of caring for people living with frailty at a difficult time and acknowledged that they would benefit hugely from further knowledge and skill development in this field.