Public Health Northamptonshire County Council

Ageing has become a global driver in health and social care (NHS England 2014, NHS Digital 2015; Department for Communities and Local Government 2016; ONS 2016a, 2016b, WHO 2017) advocating healthy ageing through public investment to enable older people to have the freedom to live an aged life that is consistent with their life long values as set out in WHO (2017) vision statement for global action. The predominance of active ageing paradigms and advances in medical technology have undoubtedly been a success of the twentieth century resulting in gains in life expectancy and decreasing mortality rates within the UK (ONS 2017). Whilst these gains are widely acknowledged so is it, that as people age they are progressively more likely to live with complex co-morbidities, disability and frailty. Therefore, living longer does not necessarily mean living well (Collard et al 2012; Kings Fund 2014; van Wijngaarden et al 2016). Frailty is now a key driver for both national and local health and social care organisations and more widely it is recognised that education is key in being able to equip our local community to identify and support older people who may be at risk or are experiencing frailty. This year the NHS have set out the Frailty Core Competency Framework (2018b p7), identifying three tiers of competency in the workforce in managing frailty. Tier 1 are those that require general awareness of frailty such as the general public, first responders such as police force and fire services, healthcare assistants including social care who provide personal care support. Tier 2 are health and social care staff who regularly work with people living with frailty but who would seek support from others for complex management or decision-making and could include a range of professionals. Tier 3 are health, social care and other professionals with a high degree of autonomy, able to provide care in complex situations and who may also lead services for people living with frailty. This could include the senior-grade professionals who regularly operate in complex clinical situations within this community of practice, requiring a high level of autonomy in clinical decision making. The intent is to create an Open Educational Resource (OER) that maps against the three-core capability levels and provides the following levels of educational provision:

Tier 1 - open resource to all members of the public that supports the identification of frailty and recognises the impact of this on an older person’s health and well-being with sign-posting to appropriate support agencies within the community that can be accessed. The intention is this will contribute to raising awareness of frailty on a community level, highlight those that are vulnerable and avenues to gain support thus harness a social movement to recognise and value all in our community. The participants have the option to complete a self-assessment to gain a certificate of CPD for a nominal cost £25

Tier 2 – open resources to professionals (such as nurses, paramedics, social work, OT and physiotherapy) and will build upon Tier 1 with greater focus on the assessment of frailty and decision-making to support appropriate, timely management plans. The participants will have two options, to complete a self-assessment and obtain a certificate of CPD for a nominal fee of £25 or to complete a 20-credit summative assessment at level 6 will attract a fee of £150

Tier 3 - Tier 2 – open resources to professionals (such as nursing paramedics, social work, OT and physiotherapy) and will build upon Tier 1 and 2 with an advanced appreciation of the complexity of frailty and leadership of personalised frailty services. The participants will have two options, to complete a self-assessment and obtain a certificate of CPD for a nominal fee of £25 or to complete a 20-credit summative assessment at level 7 will attract a fee of £150