Abstract
The need for home-delivered meals (HDM) is increasing, yet little is known about the health of older adults receiving this service. Frailty is a way to assess overall health and is associated with poor health outcomes including increased mortality. The Frailty Index (FI) is the ratio of an individual’s accumulated deficits out of the total number of possible deficits. The FI has not been applied to the HDM population. A standard calculation for the FI was applied to health assessment data from 165 older adults receiving HDM. This 47-item FI included 20 possible health conditions, 9 possible Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), 9 possible Instrumental ADLs (IADLs), and 9 possible responses from a nutrition risk assessment. The sample of HDM clients was predominantly female, white, low socioeconomic status, and high nutrition risk. The FI positively correlated (r=.407, p<.001) with nutrition risk and provided an overall health scoring system in which clients were grouped as non-frail (n=3, 1.8%), vulnerable (n=32, 19.4%), frail (n=120, 72.7%), and most frail (n=10, 6.1%). Those who were categorized as frail were predominately at high nutrition risk; however, 19% were categorized as no nutrition risk or moderate nutrition risk. Application of the FI to health assessment data can provide a holistic view of the client and demonstrate high risk beyond nutrition risk alone. Longitudinal assessment and determination of the relationship between the FI and outcome measures is needed to better understand the full utility of this measure for HDM clients.