Understanding Frailty
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding Frailty: patient, carer, and professional opinions – a Quality Improvement Project
IRAS ID
238347
Contact name
Victoria Cluley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
The study will answer the following research question:
How do key stakeholders in urgent and emergency care understand frailty?Frailty is a contested concept that is currently defined using clinical scales and measures. We argue that understandings of frailty are also predicated upon social, cultural, environmental and economic factors. In order to add social context to current clinical scales and make sense of how stakeholders in urgent and emergency care at Leicester Royal Infirmary understand frailty the project will use
• situated interviews with health care professionals and frail older people and their friends and family. These will take place within the urgent and emergency care department at Leicester Royal Infirmary, and;
• observations of frail older people accessing urgent and emergency care at Leicester Royal Infirmary.The research findings will be used to improve patient pathways at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
The research findings will be analysed using Potter and Wetherel’s approach to discourse analysis. The final report will be shared with the participants if requested and key stakeholders in urgent and emergency care. The findings will also be presented at relevant conferences and published in academic journals.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0504
Date of REC Opinion
27 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion