As Windsor-Essex faces a rising population of older adults, there is an urgent need to improve how frailty is assessed in healthcare settings. This project aims to identify and implement standardized frailty assessment tools tailored to the patient population at a community-based hospital. Through a two-phase study, the project will first reach expert consensus on appropriate assessment tools and then evaluate how they impact healthcare provider decision-making, care planning, and discharge processes. By focusing on post-acute care settings such as rehabilitation and complex care units, the study addresses a major gap in routine frailty screening and aims to optimize care delivery for older adults. The project also creates meaningful opportunities for frontline staff to engage in research relevant to their clinical practice.

This study will strengthen early detection of frailty, leading to more personalized and effective care for older adults. The goal is for findings to inform broader clinical adoption of frailty assessments across community and post-acute healthcare settings.