Australian Frailty Network
The newly established Australian Frailty Network (AFN) will transform how Australians age by creating knowledge, sharing evidence and supporting training. By forging a consumer-driven frailty research agenda, the AFN will ensure that the Australian health system can enable older people to remain active and independent for longer.
An interdisciplinary training framework – encompassing frailty training modules, mentorship, and collaboration opportunities for early-to-mid career researchers – will integrate diverse expertise and science to support the translation of frailty research into policy and practice. The AFN will also be well-positioned as the coordinating network for conducting frailty-focused clinical trials, including project management, recruitment, regulatory and monitoring services, statistical and data management, as well as provide expertise in implementation and health economics.
The AFN’s multidisciplinary team and partnership with consumers strengthens the network’s ability to broadly disseminate frailty research to clinicians and community. This will have the potential to increase accessibility to frailty programs for older Australians, inform and support future research and prepare the health system to support Australians to age well.
To guide the work of the AFN, its vision, statements of purpose, and values have been established through consultation with key internal and external stakeholders.
Our vision
To deliver a national response to frailty and help all Australians age well.
Our purpose
- Establish stakeholder priorities for frailty and ageing research
- Facilitate and conduct high quality research that generates new knowledge to improve health outcomes
- Share evidence-based information about frailty and ageing with the public and health professionals
- Build capacity in multidisciplinary and translational frailty research
- Enable translation of research into practice and policy through collaborations and partnerships
Our values
- Collaboration
- Consumer-focus
- Inclusivity
- Courage
- Excellence
Our current research
The AFN’s infrastructure is currently supporting several research projects including the FITTEST Study: Supporting older people to participate in frailty prevention programs, funded by a MRFF Targeted Call for Research Grant, Organ Transplantation as a Model of Reversible Frailty, funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grant, and Frailty ADD: Improving Hospital Outcomes for Frail Patients Across Different Disciplines, funded by the NHMRC’s Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) scheme.
Join our network
The AFN’s establishment is being led by Professor Ruth Hubbard at the University of Queensland in collaboration with national and international institutions and partner organisations.
Our current partners:
- Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG)
- Australian and New Zealand Society of Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM)
- Council of the Ageing (COTA) QLD and WA
- Queensland Dementia Ageing and Frailty Network (QDAF)
Further partnerships will position the AFN as a self-sustaining, financially viable entity, and to work as an enabling network for frailty researchers, healthcare professionals and consumers across Australia. If you would like to join the AFN, or would like to learn more about the network please contact us.
Contact
Website: afn.org.au