FITTEST Trial

The FITTEST Trial: Supporting older people to participate in frailty prevention programs

In the FITTEST trial, health professionals and researchers will be studying how to improve the health and wellbeing of older people by preventing frailty.

We know that programs that promote good nutrition, regular exercise, optimisation of medicines, and social support networks can reduce frailty levels. However, these programs are not routinely available and, where they are, people do not always join in.

The FITTEST trial will compare dfferent ways to support older people to participate in frailty prevention programs.

Professor Ruth Hubbard

"Frailty is the most significant challenge to 'ageing well' in Australia. More than 20% of people become frail as they age. With the FITTEST trial, we want to find the best way to slow the progression of frailty by supporting older people with what we call 'The Four Pillars of Frailty Prevention and Management'. These are good nutrition, regular exercise, the right medicines, and good social networks."
— Professor Ruth Hubbard, Geriatrician and Principal Investigator

About the trial

The FITTEST study will investigate the implementation and effectiveness of a multicomponent frailty program, integrating exercise, nutrition, optimisation of medicines and social connectedness. People living in the community aged ≥ 65 years with mild frailty will be randomised to a supported or self-directed intervention. The supported group will have a customised program with a health coach, exercise physiologist and dietitian and can access online information about reversing/slowing frailty, whereas the self-directed group will solely have access to online information.

The FITTEST study will commence recruitment in January 2024, and will recruit 390 participants with mild frailty from geriatric medicine clinics across Australia. We need geriatricians to identify people who they have seen in clinic that may be eligible to participate.

Become a recruiting clinic

If you would like to be an involved as a recruiting geriatric medicine clinic, please contact the team at fittest@uq.edu.au.

Study team and funding

This study is funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Dementia Ageing and Aged Care Mission (APP2016045).

Professor Ruth Hubbard, Masonic Chair of Geriatric Medicine at the Centre for Health Services Research, is the Principal Investigator for this study.

The team includes Australia's leading researchers in ageing, exercise, nutrition, pharmacology, social connectedness, and implementation science.

List of investigators

Chief Investigators	Institution
Professor Ruth Hubbard (PI/CI)	The University of Queensland
Dr Adrienne Young	The University of Queensland
Professor Maria Fiatarone Singh	University of Sydney
Professor Sarah Hilmer	University of Sydney
Dr Natasha Reid	University of Queensland
Professor Kenneth Rockwood	Dalhousie University
Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer	University of Western Australia
Professor Loretta Baldassar	Edith Cowan University
A/Professor Rosemary Saunders	Edith Cowan University
Professor Michelle Miller	Flinders University
Professor Mark Morgan	Bond University
Dr Emily Gordon	University of Queensland
Professor Tracy Comans	University of Queensland
Dr Paul Yates	Austin Health
Professor Jason Ferris	University of Queensland
Associate Investigator	Institution
Professor Simon Conroy	University College London
Ms Chandana Guhu	Consumer Representative
Gary Braddock	Consumer Representative
Dr Lisa Kouladjian O’Donnell	University of Sydney
Dr Trinidad Valenzuela Arteaga	University of Sydney
Professor Genevieve Healy	The University of Queensland
Professor Gillian Harvey	Flinders University
Dr Jacqueline Liddle	The University of Queensland
Professor Sandra Thompson	University of Western Australia
A/Professor Ivaylo Vassilev	University of Southampton

Consumer engagement opportunity

We are seeking people to help us to design a frailty research program that people can and want to participate in.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for older people and carers/family members of older people from anywhere in Australia to contribute to this research.

About the project

This study will compare ways to support older people to participate in frailty programs using a health coach and online information. Our programs aim to help older people to optimise their nutrition, exercise, medications and social supports, as we know that this is critical to support healthy ageing. This is an Australia-wide study led by researchers at the University of Queensland. The project is funded for 5 years (2022 – 2026).

Including consumers in the design of the research is important to us, as they can teach us what is most important to them and how our research can support this to benefit older people and their carers/family members.

How you can be involved

We are looking for people to help us in the following ways:

Reviewing information to be provided to study participants about frailty and the research. This may include information sheets, brochures or website content.
Advising on the most user-friendly assessments and surveys to measure changes in health and function. For example, are people likely to complete online surveys?
Advising on study procedures that make it easy for people to sign up and participate in the study. For example, the best timing and place to do the assessments.
Co-designing elements of the frailty program. For example, designing a health coach role (how and how often will they contact people?), how best to involve carers in the program
Contributing to other frailty and ageing research projects that we are planning in future. Some of these projects will aim to improve hospital care.

We can be flexible in how and when you are involved. This may be a one-off meeting or workshop, or involvement in multiple activities. You may like to meet with us in-person (if you live in Brisbane) or contribute via online meetings, telephone or email communication.

There is no need for any prior experience of frailty or research. However, it is important that you have an appreciation of the challenges faced by older people (from a range of backgrounds and ‘walks of life’) when participating in research or health programs.

Remuneration for your involvement

We can pay you for your time in the form of an hourly payment ($46/hr). This can be transferred to your bank account or we can give you a gift card of your choice. We will pay for parking or travel costs if you need to attend in-person meetings.

If you are interested…

Please register your interest via this brief online survey or via email fittest@uq.edu.au. If you are unsure whether this opportunity is right for you, please leave your details in the survey or email us at fittest@uq.edu.au and we can contact you to discuss further.