Australian Frailty Network
The Australian Frailty Network (AFN) aims to create knowledge, implement findings, and support training to improve outcomes for older Australians and their families and caregivers.
Frailty can be attributed to a variety of factors, including age, chronic diseases, and social isolation. Over 20% of Australians will become frail as they age, and many will experience declines in physical function, cognition, and nutritional status, putting them at risk of losing independence and needing assistance with activities of daily living.
The AFN serves as a platform that brings together consumers, health care professionals, multidisciplinary researchers, policymakers, and peak bodies to address this issue through a multi-pronged approach that focuses on preventing frailty and slowing its progression.
Our vision
Our vision is to deliver a national response to frailty that enables frailty-informed care for all older Australians.
Our purpose
- Establish stakeholder priorities for research across the frailty spectrum
- Facilitate and conduct high-quality research generating new knowledge to improve health outcomes for older Australians
- Share evidence-based information about frailty with the public, clinicians, and health system decision-makers
- Build capacity in multidisciplinary and translational frailty research across community, hospital, and residential aged care settings
- Enable translation of research into policy and practice through collaborations and partnerships
Our values
- Collaboration
- Consumer-focus
- Inclusivity
- Courage
- Excellence
Established and led since 2021 by Professor Ruth Hubbard, Masonic Chair of Geriatric Medicine at The University of Queensland, the AFN has generated $43million funding including major research projects:
- EMPOWER: A consumer-driven approach to transform care for older community-dwellers living with frailty (MRFF)
- The Australian Frailty Network including the FITTEST Clinical Trial (MRFF)
- Frailty-ADD Centre for Research Excellence (NHMRC)
- The ReFIT Study: Reversing Frailty through Transplantation (NHMRC)
- The GOAL CKD Trial: Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for Frail Older People with Chronic Kidney (NHMRC)
- eFI Qld Health Project: A Digital Frailty Index for Acute Care Settings (NHMRC)
- eFI Primary Care Project: A Digital Frailty Index for Primary Care Settings (MRFF)
- Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG)
- Australian and New Zealand Society of Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM)
- Council of the Ageing (COTA) QLD and WA
- Queensland Dementia Ageing and Frailty Network (QDAF)
Future partnerships will position the AFN as a self-sustaining, financially viable, enabling network for frailty researchers, healthcare professionals and consumers across Australia.
Visit the website to find out more about the Australian Frailty Network.