About the printed Frailty Wheel
This hand-held tool for face-to-face or telephone interviews can quickly determine frailty risk. Benefits of the Frailty Wheel include:
- Instant result
- Lightweight and durable
- No accuracy lost
- No math needed
- Reusable
Three simple yes/no questions plus age are used to determine persons at risk. Clinicians and support staff can promptly refer at-risk persons for further assessment.
Note:The printed Frailty Wheel has been replaced by the Frailty Wheel mobile app.
Frailty Wheel Uses
Frailty is defined as "a high probability of dependency on others for daily care within the next 12 months." By knowing which members of the population are frail, eldercare facilities can target those who need particular services and thus provide care that is cost-effective and appropriate.
How can this tool help your organization?
The Frailty Wheel has many applications across all types of organizations that work with the elderly:
Hospital
Use the Frailty Wheel to identify at-risk patients when making staffing decisions or when planning for discharge.
Clinic
Use the Frailty Wheel in the office or over the phone during advice calls to determine the need for referrals to social work services, home health and community agencies, or diagnostic workups to identify persons with functional impairment.
Home Health
Use the Frailty Wheel at the time of discharge to link dependent person with community support and to alert primary care of ongoing needs.
Assisted Living/Residential Care
Use the Frailty Wheel to determine an appropriate level of care for a new resident. To screen residents periodically to see if a higher level of care is needed , such as a skilled nursing facility, independent nursing services, or more assistance from family members.
Nursing Home
Use the Frailty Wheel to assist in the determination of where to place a new resident. Some facilities place their residents on different wings depending on the level of care they need, or it can be used to give each wing a good mix of residents to avoid staff burnout.
Social Service Agencies
Use the Frailty Wheel to aid the elderly and their family members in making decisions based on the patient's care needs. An outcome of frail could require care planning to ensure that the elderly person is getting enough daily care to remain in his or her home.