Frailty in respiratory medicine: time for action?

Monash University Department of Physiotherapy is pleased to announce the following upcoming seminar entitled: 

“Frailty in respiratory medicine: time for action?”

As we manage an ageing population in our clinical care, attention has been increasingly directed towards the negative impact of frailty upon common healthcare targets. The concept of frailty appears intuitively simple to recognise, yet it is a highly complex, multi-dimensional trait that poses significant challenges to define, measure and evaluate its impact upon patient care. Many lessons learned from the field of gerontology highlight a clear need to improve the way we deliver ‘standard care’ for such individuals. Despite this emerging knowledge, few parallel advancements have been observed in our practice of respiratory medicine.

This seminar aims to review some of the key issues in the field of frailty that have arisen from geriatric medicine, and examine its relevance to the field of acute respiratory medicine. It is hoped clinicians will gain a better understanding of the ways in which this ‘treatable trait’ can be integrated into our daily clinical practice, as well as appreciation of the strengths and limitations associated with common methods used to assess frailty. The session aims to allow for engaging interactive discussions regarding the evolution of practice in this field.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Dr Sze-Ee Soh is a lecturer in the Department of Physiotherapy and a post-doctoral research fellow with the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. She is a registered physiotherapist with more than 15 years of clinical experience in delivering physiotherapy services for older adults. She has a keen interest in biostatistics and her main areas of research include falls, Parkinson’s disease, osteoarthritis, quality of life and validating outcome measures.

Dr. Christian Osadnik is a post-doctoral research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physiotherapy at Monash University. His interests centre upon the optimisation of health outcomes for patients with chronic respiratory disease (particularly COPD) via the application of evidence-based rehabilitation medicine. Dr. Osadnik is a current Lung Foundation Australia COPD Research Fellow, Executive Committee member of TSANZ Victoria, and Co-ordinator of Cochrane Airways Australia.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Any health professionals working in acute care, respiratory medicine and/or gerontology, including physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, nurses, medical doctors, researchers, students.

SESSION FORMAT

The format will be a lecture-style presentation plus open discussion with emphasis on the implications for clinical practice and future research. Light refreshments will be available.

WHEN:

6:00 – 7:30pm, Thursday 13^th December, 2018.

WHERE

'The Peninsula Room' (room 3.14) - Level 3, Monash Physical Activity and Recreation Centre (Building W), Peninsula Campus Monash University. Parking is free of charge after 5pm in the Blue permit area located at the rear of Building W. Refer map (http://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/71690/6-Peninsulacolour.pdf) or Peninsula home page (http://www.monash.edu/about/our-locations/peninsula-campus) for further information. 

We look forward to welcoming you at this exciting session!

Dr. Christian Osadnik

Seminar Series Co-ordinator, Department of Physiotherapy, Monash University.