Reorienting frailty in clinical practice, public health, and policy: the Lancet Commission on Frailty

WHO’s policy framework for healthy ageing from the World Report on Ageing and Health recognises frailty as the foremost geriatric syndrome in older adults and a key determinant of functional ability.¹ Frailty poses a major public health challenge, with a substantial impact on the people living with it, their families, health-care systems, and social support services.^1,2 However, frailty is a poorly understood condition globally. Without an adequate understanding of frailty and its causal pathways, policy makers cannot develop effective preventive strategies to reduce frailty prevalence and its associated burden. Moreover, there is an urgent need for pragmatic strategies to integrate public health approaches with wider health, social, and long-term care systems to improve the support for older adults living with frailty.^3,4