Perceptions of Frailty in Long-Term Care

Background: An early palliative approach to care may best suit the care needs of older persons with frailty living in long-term care (LTC). The study objective was to evaluate the barriers and facilitators to care for frailty in the LTC setting. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were completed with physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, allied health-care providers, care partners, and residents with care experience in LTC. Framework analysis methods that leveraged behaviour change theories were used to analyze the interview data and produce practice-oriented findings. Results: Twenty-eight interviews were completed. Seven themes were identified: resident characteristics related to frailty; frailty detection and diagnosis; frailty treatment and care planning; frailty and prognosis conversations; palliative and end-of-life care; communication amongst LTC collaborators; and the LTC environment. All codes were labelled as barriers or facilitators and assigned to a primary domain within the Theoretical Domains Framework. Conclusions: The lack of clinical recognition of frailty in the LTC setting was a key barrier to clinical pathway implementation. There is a need for frailty to be linked to prognosis and care decisions, for frailty to be directly addressed through individualized treatments, and for an early palliative approach to care to be accessible to residents. Identifying barriers to care for frailty is a critical step toward clinical care pathway implementation which may improve care and outcomes for residents of LTC.