The event was held on 14 March at the Cruces University Hospital lecture hall.   

The 1st Workshop on Caring for the Elderly brought together health professionals in Primary Care, Mental Health Care, Hospital Care, Social and Health fields, and Public Health, as well as management teams in the health sector. It had two objectives: (i) to raise awareness among the attendees of the importance of maintaining good functionality for elderly people, and (ii) to present the Care for the Elderly Programme (PAM in Spanish). The PAM is a tool that provides guidelines to convert good functionality into the main focus of healthcare for the elderly.

In line with the topics addressed, Kronikgune presented the work done in recent months within the Advantage Join Action (JA), co-funded by the EU’s Third Health Programme 2014-2020. The European project seeks to build common understanding in Europe regarding frailty.

The Director of Kronikgune, Esteban de Manuel Keenoy, unveiled the methodology used in Advantage JA to draft two reports: “The State of the Art on Frailty Report ” and the “Frailty Approach Plan”.

The “State of the Art on Frailty Report” enables a conceptual common work framework to be defined, upon which the recommendations on health and social policies for preventing and managing frailty in the future are based. It provides an overview of the evidence on effective measures to prevent and manage frailty. It also addresses key questions which facilitate an integrated approach to frailty:

  • What is frailty?
  • Why is it a public health problem?
  • How is frailty related to chronic diseases?
  • How can frailty be prevented?
  • How should social care and healthcare systems be adapted to assist frail patients?

The main results reflect the heterogeneity of MS and healthcare and social care systems in a scenario of demographic change and economic restrictions in the EU.

The “Frailty Approach Plan”, on the other hand, aims to serve as a common European model to address frailty. It provides an overview of the approach to frailty at a national and regional level in the 22 Member States taking part in the Consortium. The document also includes recommendations and suggestions related to frailty prevention, check-up, diagnosis and management.

Web: advantageja.eu

Kronikgune website data sheet: https://www.kronikgune.org/advantage-proyecto/

Twitter: @advantageJA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/advantageJA/