Federal funding may be ending, but frailty still matters
Canadian Frailty Network Scientific Director and CEO, Dr. John Muscedere and CFN Board Chair Russell Williams weigh-in on the effects of the phasing out of the federally funded Networks of Centres of Excellence Program.
“…the Canadian Frailty Network (CFN) was funded under the NCE program in 2012 and is Canada’s only network focused on improving care for older adults living with frailty and supporting their caregivers. An integral part of its work involves patients and citizens in all activities – from priority setting to evaluation. With the cancellation of the NCE program, CFN’s funding will stop in 2022 at the end of its second term.
CFN is devoted to an enormous concern today — how we care for older Canadians. In the 2016 Census, Canadians 65 years and older outnumbered children for first time. The most rapidly increasing segment of the population is individuals over 80 years old and over 50 per cent of those over the age of 80 are frail. For certain populations such as indigenous and veterans, frailty onset is earlier and significantly higher.”