Inpatient Nursing Frailty Assessment (INFA): Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and multidisciplinary intervention for frail hospitalised older adults

Age Well SG strand: Strengthen support for seniors with care needs in the community

Principal Investigator: Dr Justin Chew Linghui (Research & Innovation Lead, Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing and Consultant, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH)) & Dr Grace Sum Chi-En (Research Fellow, GERI)

Collaborating Organisation(s): TTSH, National Healthcare Group

Gap: Older adults admitted to hospital wards under General Medicine and General Surgery may miss out on geriatric assessment. There is a need to incorporate systematic screening of geriatric syndromes in those wards. Additionally, there is a growing need to empower nurses to lead the screening and care of patients.

Planned Solution: The INFA programme at TTSH aims to provide geriatric assessment and coordinate care for frail older persons during and after their hospital stay. The study team from GERI and TTSH will conduct implementation research before and during the programme’s pilot at TTSH. Prior to implementation, the study team will identify anticipated barriers and enablers to refine the programme and develop implementation strategies. During the pilot, implementation strategies and outcomes (adoption, implementation, sustainability, scalability) will be assessed. Programme effectiveness will be evaluated in areas such as function, quality of life, hospital readmission rates and use of healthcare services. Cost-effectiveness will also be examined.

Anticipated Impact: Overall, this project will potentially contribute to building frailty-ready hospital services and inform scalability and sustainability within TTSH and to other hospitals. Research from the project has been presented at the 2025 Ageing Research Network Symposium and the 11th Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology 2025, with plans for further dissemination through conferences and journal publications.

Duration: Dec 2023 to Mar 2026