Integrated care helps frail older adults with daily function

For older adults living at home who are frail, staying independent and strong is a daily worry. A major review of many studies looked at integrated care, which coordinates health and social services, to see if it helps. The review found that integrated care significantly improves frailty and functional ability, meaning people can move and manage daily tasks better. It did not find significant effects on social function, hospital stays, nursing home admissions, quality of life, or mortality. The evidence on cost-effectiveness was too limited to confirm any benefit. The review included 6,819 community-dwelling frail older adults in high-income regions. Safety data were not reported. The findings are limited because caregiver and professional outcomes were rarely reported, and few studies used a systematic approach to process evaluations. This means we still don't know the full picture of how integrated care works in real life.