World Health Organization Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) and the Integrated Care of Older Patients with Frailty in Primary Care (ICOOP_Frail) Study in Korea

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently endorsed the proposal for a Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020–2030). The WHO defines “healthy aging” as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age.” Among the strategies for the Decade of Healthy Ageing, the WHO has suggested enhancing intrinsic capacity, promoting functional ability, and implementing the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) package. The WHO has defined steps for ICOPE evaluation and scale-up and is performing a prospective study in 2–3 countries (low and middle income, high income) to test its feasibility in 2021–2022 and a multinational randomized study to validate its clinical efficacy and effectiveness in 2022–2024. Intrinsic capacity and frailty represent two faces of the same coin, with one indicating the reserves of the individual and the other indicating the deficits that accumulate with age. The Integrated Care of Older Patients with Frailty in Primary Care (ICOOP_Frail) study is the first integrated care program for frailty or functional decline in primary care in Korea. The results suggest that the ICOOP_Frail study can be utilized as a reference for ICOPE studies in Korea or at least to provide important findings for the forthcoming ICOPE implementation study in Korea.

Frailty in Aging and the Search for the Optimal Biomarker: A Review

“…The importance of frailty lies in the fact that frail older people have a higher risk of premature death, in addition to numerous adverse health outcomes, such as falls, fractures, dementia, disability, impaired quality of life, and excessive use of state health resources [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In this sense, the WHO developed the ICOPE guide (Integrated Care for Older People) with the aim of promoting, improving, or maintaining both the intrinsic and functional capacity of older persons to achieve healthy aging, being a key point in the prevention of frailty and a correct diagnosis through tools and/or biomarkers [ 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Implications of frailty interventions from Korean frailty and aging cohort study

“…3 Frailty can be adequately assessed and managed only if comprehensively evaluated and followed based on service integration and multidisciplinarity. 4 As such, prevention and management of frailty requires multidisciplinary well evidence-based interventions. Physical exercise programs were shown to be generally effective for reducing or postponing frailty but only when conducted in groups.…”

“…Frailty can be adequately assessed and managed only if comprehensively evaluated and followed based on service integration and multidisciplinarity 4 . As such, prevention and management of frailty requires multidisciplinary well evidence‐based interventions.…”

An integrative approach to dementia care

“…Indeed, even the most well-designed pharmaceutical will fail in the face of unmet needs that are fundamental to healthy living, such as social interaction, physical activity, and a healthy diet ( Cesari et al, 2021 ). The World Health Organization has recognized the problem of malnutrition in this population and recently developed the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) program to promote functional ability and intervention steps to manage declines in older age, including malnourishment and frailty ( Won et al, 2021 ).…”