As more and more people hit that magical number every day, we likely have a picture in our minds of what a “healthy” older adult looks like—maybe going for walks, socializing with friends, doing errands—generally living an active and independent life.
But then something like a fall or an illness happens, and all of a sudden, a once healthy person becomes frail. Such an occurrence limits their daily activities and can ultimately lead to a loss of independence.
At the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York, we call these events “triggers of decline.”Triggers of decline precipitate a decline in physical, cognitive, or mental health for otherwise healthy older adults living in the community. They are not just the risks that older adults face individually, like poor mobility, malnutrition, or chronic illnesses. They can also result from challenges older adults face in the context of their families and communities, such as caregiver stress and weak social networks, and within the health care system and at the societal level, including lack of transportation and medication mismanagement. These triggers can occur suddenly, or they can build over time, and they often overlap and compound one another.
As a funder in the aging sector, the Health Foundation is focused on improving the health of vulnerable older adults and ensuring that they can lead a dignified, independent, high-quality life in their communities. To do that, we want to understand the needs of this population and support organizations that can provide the services that meet those needs. We define vulnerable older adults as “people age 60 or older that meet one or more of the following criteria: [they] are at greater risk for one or more triggers of decline, are in poverty, are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.”
So, to identify the factors that had the potential to trigger frailty or functional decline in vulnerable older adults living in the community, the Health Foundation partnered with the Syracuse University Aging Studies Institute to develop a “Triggers of Decline” conceptual model.