Feasibility of a Multidisciplinary Student-Led Program to Improve Frailty in Nursing Home Residents

BACKGROUND Frailty, regarded as a potentially reversible process and defined as a progressive deterioration of physiological systems and intrinsic capacity, constitutes a key risk factor for disability, dependency and institutionalisation. Currently, it is estimated that between 50% and 75% of older adults living in residential care facilities present with frailty. This clinical profile is often directly associated with multiple comorbidities (around 65-85% of this population suffer from several chronic conditions), emotional decline, polypharmacy, malnutrition and a high prevalence of functional and cognitive impairment. Consequently, two out of every three older adults will require long-term care in specialised centres during their lifetime. In this context, nursing homes represent a key setting not only for providing care, but also for the prevention, detection and management of conditions such as frailty. However, care in residential facilities continues to focus on addressing established problems, with low participation in activities with potential benefits and a high perception of loneliness. Therefore, interventions in these contexts aimed at improving frailty are both necessary and urgent, particularly those that integrate a biopsychosocial approach, promote autonomy and foster active ageing. Several studies have demonstrated that multidisciplinary intervention programmes and multicomponent physical training are effective in preventing frailty and its consequences. Nevertheless, their widespread implementation is limited by several factors. On the one hand, there is a lack of scientific evidence on the cost-effectiveness of such interventions, and on the other, healthcare systems face budgetary constraints in a context of increasing demand for geriatric care. In the search for more effective interventions to improve frailty and other related variables in older adults residing in nursing homes, supervised multidisciplinary programmes, delivered by health sc