Reconsidering frailty from a human and social sciences standpoint: towards an interdisciplinary approach to vulnerability. (2nd May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sabot, Philippe; Di Martino, Carla; Moroni, Christine; Pentini, Anna Aluffi; Pabjan, Barbara; Machado, Maria Manuela Pereira; Katkonienė, Agata; Czajkowski, Paweł; Bardauskienė, Raminta; Beuscart, Jean-Baptiste
• Is Part Of: Age and ageing. Volume 52:Number 5(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-05-02
• Subjects: frailty -- vulnerability -- precarity -- geriatrics -- older people -- care; Aging -- Periodicals; Geriatrics -- Periodicals; 618.97
• DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afad064
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-0729

Abstract

Abstract: Although frailty is an important, well-characterized concept in the provision of medical care to older adults, it has not been linked to the concept of vulnerability developed in the humanities and social sciences. Here, we distinguish between the two main dimensions of vulnerability: a fundamental, anthropological dimension in which people are exposed to a risk of injury, and a relational dimension in which people depend on each other and on their environment. The relational notion of vulnerability might provide healthcare professionals with a better understanding of frailty (and its potential interaction with precarity). Precarity situates people in their relationship with a social environment that might threaten their living conditions. Frailty corresponds to individual-level changes in adaptation to a living environment and the loss of ability to evolve or react in that environment. Therefore, we suggest that by considering the geriatric notion of frailty as a particular form of relational vulnerability, healthcare professionals could better understand the specific needs of frail, older people—and thus provide more appropriate care.