Welcome!
Our response to the aging imperative was to establish the Center on Frail and Vulnerable Elders, the third and newest Center of Excellence in the School of Nursing, officially established in November 2002. During the 20th century, science has dramatically extended life. As a result, the number of "oldest old," persons over age 85, is increasing dramatically. This age group tends toward poorer health and requires more services than younger counterparts. (Federal Interagency Forum, 2000) and, consequently, encompasses a disproportionate number of those who are frail and vulnerable. Their needs for care and the associated costs are now outstripping the nation's health care resources to address these needs and our ability to pay for them.
COFVE Vision & Mission
The Center on Frail and Vulnerable Elders (COFVE) is a resource to the School of Nursing, University, Community and beyond for the purpose of advancing the quality of care provided to the most fragile and dependent elderly persons and their caregivers. Through enactment of inter-related programs of research, education, clinical care and advocacy, a committed group of scientists and clinical scholars strive to advance the frontiers of knowledge, educate scientists and health professionals, design and provide innovative clinical services, and address health policy issues as these relate to the complex and resource intensive needs of this population. A further interest of the Center is to affect the life trajectory of elders and their families by generating knowledge and affecting care that enables a prolonged period of healthy and productive aging, a minimal period of disability and dependency, and a supportive environment for end-of-life decision making and palliative care.
The vision and mission of COFVE is grounded in the related concepts of frailty and vulnerability as applied to life's later stages. In recent years, the concept of frailty has emerged as a central and critical aspect of geriatrics. Frailty has also been characterized as a condition of advanced age developing from a combination of multiple illnesses and marked by vulnerability to stressors and decreased ability to maintain homeostasis (Fretwell, 1990). Contributors to frailty may include chronic and acute diseases, physiological decline that occurs during the aging process, and a dysregulation of systems accompanying aging (Cohen, 2000). Dysregulation of systems appears to be the most critical, allowing for the negative interplay of several key systems, especially the muscular, neuroendocrine, and immune systems, creating a downward spiral eventually recognized as frailty. Potential adverse outcomes resulting from frailty include falls, injuries, susceptibilities to acute illnesses, hospitalization, frank disability and dependence, and potentially, institutionalization and death.