Grant: Project Grant

In developed countries around the world, about 190 million people have surgery every year. Many of them are older and have pre-existing health problems such as heart disease. A study already underway (called the Fit After Surgery study) funded by CIHR is looking at how well patients who are over 65 recover after surgery. For example, are they more disabled after surgery than they were before? What kinds of things might happen after surgery that makes life more difficult? We plan to build on this study to find out more information. We will specifically look at those older adults who are over 65 and are frail. That is, they are more likely to have many health issues that affect how well they can do their daily activities compared to other older adults. What happens when they leave the hospital? Do they need more care from their caregivers? Do they function as well as they did before surgery? A very important but unanswered question is whether their caregivers are able to provide all the care they need. This can be difficult when caregivers also have health issues. To answer these questions, we plan to do an in-depth sub-study of the main Fit After Surgery study. We will invite older adults living with frailty and their caregivers in multiple Canadian cities to answer more detailed questions about their health and function on 2 occasions over the course of a year. We will ask them what their care needs are. We will also ask them what resources they need at home and whether there is anything - at home, at hospital, getting to and from places, or cost - that makes it difficult for them to get the care they need. Our study will help patients make better-informed decisions about having surgery. It will also help identify patients who need extra help to recover after surgery. Lastly, it will identify what caregivers need, and how to make sure they stay healthy and well.