ICT-supported interventions targeting pre-frailty: Healthcare recommendations from the personalised ICT supported service for independent living and active ageing (PERSSILAA) study

As society ages, healthcare systems are preparing for an increasing prevalence of frail, co-morbid and older community-dwellers at risk of adverse outcomes including falls, malnutrition, hospitalisation, institutionalisation and death. Early intervention is desirable and pre-frailty, before onset of functional decline, may represent a suitable transition stage to target, albeit evidence for reversibility and appropriate interventions are limited. No consensus on the definition, diagnosis or management of pre-frailty exists. This work describes 25 healthcare related findings from the recently completed PERsonalised ICT Supported Service for Independent Living and Active Ageing (PERSSILAA) project, funded under the 2013–2016 European Union Framework Programme 7 (grant #610359). PERSSILAA developed a comprehensive Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-supported platform to screen, assess, intervene and then monitor community-dwellers in two regions (Enschede in the Netherlands and Campania in Italy) in order to address pre-frailty and promote active and healthy ageing, targeting three important pre-frailty subdomains: nutrition, cognition and physical function. Proposed definitions of pre-frailty, ICT-based approaches to screen and monitor for the onset of frailty and targeted management strategies employing technology across these domains are described. The potential of these 25 healthcare recommendations in the development of future European guidelines on the screening and prevention of frailty is explored.