CFN 2018 National Conference
Improving Frailty Care Benefits Everyone
On September 19th and 20th, 2018 300 delegates including practitioners, care providers, scientists, clinicians, policy makers, older adults living with frailty, friend/family caregivers and experts in the field of frailty gathered together to present and discuss, the latest knowledge, evidence, approaches and policies that are transforming care and seeding the next generation of breakthrough innovations. Click here to see the full program.
Frailty matters. 1.2 million Canadians 65-plus live with frailty, as do 2.5 million Canadians who are their caregivers and hundreds of thousands more in our healthcare workforce.
CFN is Canada’s only national network dedicated to older Canadians living with frailty and all responsible for their well-being. This conference is a unique opportunity to examine frailty from many aspects/perspectives at a single event.
The Conference also offers students and trainees in CFN’s Interdisciplinary Training Program an opportunity to network, gain valuable abstract and poster submission experience, and hear from experts. Click here to read more about their experience and see the top posters and abstracts.
NEW THIS YEAR: CFN FRAILTY MATTERS Innovation Showcase
A centre-piece of the 2018 CFN National Conference, the FRAILTY MATTERS Innovation Showcase put the spotlight squarely on the best emerging or existing innovative approaches to improving the lives of older Canadians living with frailty and all responsible for their care. The CFN FRAILTY MATTERS Innovation Showcase was presented in partnership with the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research — Institute for Aging (CIHR-IA).
And innovation is alive and well in Canada, as witnessed by the 80 submissions we received! The top 30 innovations exhibited storyboards at the 2018 CFN National Conference, and the top five presented their innovations in a plenary forum, with the Top Canadian Frailty Innovation announced from stage. For details, click here.

View the Presentation Slides
Keynote: Innovation in models of care for older adults living with frailty. What can Canada learn from Australia?, Professor Len Gray, Director, Centre for Health Services Research (CHSR), Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Australia
Presentation of Top 5 Frailty Innovations
- Innovation of the Year: Seniors’ Community Hub– Marjan Abbasi and Sheny Khera, Edmonton Oliver Primary Care Network
- Conference Choice Innovation: COACH Program– Elaine Campbell, Tim Stultz and Kirsten Mallard, Health PEI
- C5-75: CASE-FINDING FOR COMPLEX CHRONIC CONDITIONS IN PERSONS 75+- Linda Lee and Tejal Patel, Centre for Family Medicine
- Hospital Without Walls- Kelly O’Halloran, Hamilton Health Sciences
- CARES: Community Action & Resources Empowering Seniors- Annette Garm, Fraser Health
Optimizing medication in caring for seniors living with frailty: Five perspectives
- Community Care: Shanna Trenaman, Dalhousie University
- Long-Term Care: Susan Bronskill, Senior Scientist & Lead, Health System Planning & Evaluation Program, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
- Acute Care: Emily Reeve, NHMRC-ARC Dementia Research Development
- The Evolving Role of the Pharmacist: Colleen Maxwell, Professor, Schools of Pharmacy, and Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo
Moving Research Evidence into Practice
- More-2-Eat Phase 2: spread/scaling up improved nutrition care to detect and treat hospital malnutrition: Heather Keller, Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Schlegel Research Chair in Nutrition and Aging, University of Waterloo
- Using an automated mortality prediction tool to focus advance care planning efforts for inpatients: James Downar, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
CFN Research in Progress
- Identifying High-Risk Patients for Personalized Care Plans: John Hirdes, Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo and Dr. George Heckman, Schlegel Research Chair in Geriatric Medicine and Associate Professor in the Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo
- Transforming primary care for older Canadians living with frailty: Jacobi Elliott, Project Manager for the Geriatric Health Systems Research Group in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo and Anik Giguère, scientist at the Quebec Center for Excellence in Aging and Associate Professor at the Department of family and emergency medicine of Laval University