The Geriatric Services of Getafe and Albacete Hospitals, prestigious at national and international level, have taken part in the European research project (FACET) to monitor frailty care at home. The technology multinational GMV has taken on technological coordination of the project, using its inhouse telemedicine platform Antari®. This GMV product allows the physician to prescribe remotely a personalized therapy plan to suit patients’ development as monitored continuously in their homes.

The clinical trial (prospective, randomized and blind) was held over one full year, studying the health trend in males with an average age of 82 and females with an average age of 65, monitored to detect the onset of frailty and keep track of it thereafter. Sensors were set up in their homes to record a series of key frailty variables such as level of physical exercise (walking speed, leg power, etc.), adherence to the therapeutic plan or recommended diet.

This research has thrown up a frailty report on those persons most likely to suffer functional deterioration and develop disability or suffer adverse events (falls, frequent hospital stays, etc.). The trial shows that, as from the third month of observation, the progression of frailty was slowed down in persons monitored with the telemedicine platform and likewise the transition from non-frail to frail.

The net result is a reduction in the use of healthcare resources. Physicians were able to monitor changes in the patients’ functional state and prescribe therapy plans to suit the evolution of the main process and any concomitant ailments. Physical exercise, diet recommendations to suit each person’s needs and observance of the therapy plan prescribed in each case are the keys to delaying frailty or disability in this group.

Furthermore, continual use of the platform encourages the patients involved, instills confidence and provides them with ways to monitor their state without having to visit the physician or healthcare professional in charge of their case.

Besides the direct benefits for the monitored patients, the report also concludes that the telemedicine system was warmly welcomed by the clinicians and gladly taken up in their daily routine.

In the words of Doctor Carlos Royo, healthcare strategy director of GMV’s Secure e Solutions sector, the Antari® Professional Care telemedicine platform for clinical management of the elderly and pre-frail incorporates «therapy plans and personalized interventions (nutritional algorithms, medication, physical exercise plans) for all-in, coordinated and continuous care, involving all stakeholders (clinicians and patients)». GMV has also developed the necessary technology for guaranteeing privacy of research data, pursuant to current law and regulations. FACET, after all, «is one of the few frailty randomized controlled trials (RCT) at national and international level».