This UQ-led Centre of Research Excellence aims to improve hospital outcomes for frail patients across different disciplines.
Frail patients are often harmed in hospitals, and Australia’s tertiary care system is ill-equipped to cater for the increasing number of middle-aged and older adults with multiple co-morbidities and complex health problems.
The Improving Hospital Outcomes for Frail Patients Across Different Disciplines Centre of Research Excellence (Frailty-ADD CRE) is a five-year, multidisciplinary program that systematically addresses key barriers to frailty-informed care for hospital patients. It is funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence grant (ID: 2015821).
Our vision
Our research program is dedicated to improving hospital outcomes for frail patients. We aim to do this by:
- assisting decisionmakers in healthcare systems to understand how frailty affects patient outcomes and costs;
- educating healthcare professionals about providing treatment for inpatients that is appropriate for their level of frailty, and that helps patients to achieve their own goals of care; and
- training the upcoming generation of researchers and clinicians with methodological skills to design and implement frailty-focused clinical programs, thus carrying forward the work of this Centre of Research Excellence.
We believe that through these efforts, we can make a significant difference in the lives of frail patients and the healthcare systems that support them.
Governance
- CRE International Advisory Board: Chair - Professor Kenneth Rockwood
- CRE Steering Committee: Chair - Professor Ruth Hubbard
- Dissemination Committee: Chair - Dr Kristiana Ludlow
- Frailty Nexus: Chair - Dr Beningus Logan
Research and translation streams
- Program 1: Prevalence and outcomes
- Program 2: Pharmaco-epidemiology
- Program 3: Core outcomes in frail inpatients
- Program 4: Practice change initiatives
- Program 5: Implementation studies
- Program 6: Education and training
Prevalence and outcomes
This program is the first of its kind —globally — to focus on evaluating frailty in hospitals at a large scale. Our aim is to quantify the prevalence of frailty and establish frailty-related outcomes and costs.
Prevalence and outcomes program
Pharmaco-epidemiology
This program investigates the relationship between frailty status, medication utilisation, and global health outcomes. The aim of this program is to analyse medication utilisation and deprescribing patterns according to frailty status.
Core outcomes in frail inpatients
The aim of this program is to develop an internationally recognised Core Outcomes Set for frail inpatients that can be used to evaluate frailty interventions across different disciplines.
Core outcomes in frail inpatients program
Practice change initiatives
This program aims to empower local leaders to change their practice to provide treatment for inpatients that is appropriate for their level of frailty.
Practice change initiatives program
Implementation studies
This program aims to undertake implementation studies across different disciplines to test new models of care for frail patients.
Implementation studies program
Education and training
The aim of this program is to increase health care professionals’ and students’ knowledge and understanding of frailty in hospitals.
Chief Investigators
- Professor Ruth Hubbard, The University of Queensland
- Professor Sarah Hilmer, University of Sydney
- Professor Kenneth Rockwood, Dalhousie University
- Professor Kirsten Howard, University of Sydney
- Professor Allison Jauré, University of Sydney
- Professor Monika Janda, The University of Queensland
- Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer, University of Western Australia
- Associate Professor Danijela Gnjidic, University of Sydney
- Professor Kwang Lim, University of Melbourne
- Dr Natasha Reid, The University of Queensland
Associate Investigators
- Professor Dan Siskind, The University of Queensland
- Professor David Story, University of Melbourne
- Dr Kristiana Ludlow, The University of Queensland
- Dr Adrienne Young, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
- Associate Professor Rosemary Saunders, Edith Cowan University
- Associate Professor Nicola Warren, Metro South Hospital and Health Service
- Dr Emily Gordon, The University of Queensland
- Professor Heather Allore, Yale University Prof Andrew Clegg University of Leeds
- Professor Fiona Lake, University of Western Australia
Coordinators
- CRE Coordinator: Ms Donna Reidlinger, The University of Queensland
- CRE Coordinating Research Fellow: Dr Kristiana Ludlow, The University of Queensland
International advisory board
- Professor Kenneth Rockwood, Dalhousie University (Canada)
- Professor Andrew Clegg, Bradford Institute for Health Research (The UK)
- Professor Jean Woo, University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
- Professor Cynthia Boyd, Johns Hopkins University (USA)
Consumer advisors
- Ms Joyce Resin, Canadian Frailty Network
- Ms Elizabeth Miller
- Ms Anja Christofferson, Champion Health Agency
PhD students
- Ms Dihua (Eva) Wu, The University of Queensland
- Dr Bonnie Kwok, The University of Queensland
- Dr Chuan-Whei Lee, University of Melbourne
- Ms Mai Duong, Sydney University
- Dr Bonnie Liu, Sydney University
- Ms Esther Afolabi, Sydney University
Other team members and collaborators
- Professor John Muscedere, Queens University and the Canadian Frailty Network
- Professor Renuka Visvanathan, University of Adelaide
- Professor Marcel Olde Rikkert, Radboud University
- Dr Benignus Logan, Mater Hospital, Prince Charles Hospital and The University of Queensland
- Ms Ida Tornvall, The University of Queensland
- Dr Olivia Gallagher, Research South Metropolitan Health Service
- Associate Professor Jai Darvall, University of Melbourne
- Dr Katherine Gregorevic, The Royal Melbourne Hospital & NorthWestern Mental Health
- Dr Rachel Aitken, The Royal Melbourne Hospital & NorthWestern Mental Health
- Dr Christopher Emmett, Royal Melbourne Hospital
- Dr Kenji Fujita, University of Sydney
Partners
- Australian College of Nursing
- Occupational Therapy Australia
- Dietitians Australia
- The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SPHA)
- Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG)
- Australian and New Zealand Society of Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM)
- Council of Aging (COTA) WA and QLD
- Queensland, Dementia, Ageing and Frailty (QDAF) Clinical Network, Queensland Health
The Frailty-ADD Centre of Research Excellence is facilitated by the Australian Frailty Network (AFN) and funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence grant (ID: 2015821).
The AFN has a vision to deliver a national response to frailty and help all Australians age well. The AFN was established to create knowledge, implement findings, and support training to improve outcomes for older Australians and their families and caregivers. Its primary focus is to transform how Australians age through knowledge creation, evidence sharing, and training support for health professionals and early-to-mid-career researchers, to augment system-wide understanding and treatment of frailty. By establishing a consumer-driven frailty research agenda, the AFN will provide evidence-based solutions designed to support the Australian health system in enabling older people to remain active and independent for longer.
Visit the AFN website for more information
We are always open to new ideas and collaborations. If you have a research idea or are interested in partnering with us, we would love to hear from you.
PhD opportunities
There are multiple PhD projects available through the Frailty-ADD CRE and the Australian Frailty Network. Please visit the AFN’s website for a list of available PhD opportunities.
Careers
While there are no available job positions at the moment, we’re always open to collaborations and partnerships. If you’re interested in working together, please get in touch with us at afn@uq.edu.au.
Research participation opportunities
We currently don’t have any research participation opportunities available. If you are interested in being contacted when future opportunities present, please get in touch with us at frailtyadd.cre@uq.edu.au.
Consumers
We invite members of the public to be involved in the Frailty-ADD CRE and the Australian Frailty Network. We especially welcome older people, people living with frailty, and their family and caregivers.
There are many ways that you can get involved in the AFN:
- Advise on our research and education activities as a consumer member of our research teams, work groups, or committees.
- Be a participant in our research studies.
- Come along to one of our events.
To get involved, please fill out this survey, or send an email to afn@uq.edu.au for more information.
Contact us
Get in touch with us to learn more about our research.
frailtyadd.cre@uq.edu.au AFN website