Frailty Rehabilitation

In this multi-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT), 324 community-dwelling older adults (aged 65+) with frailty and at high risk for mobility disability will be randomized into one of three arms (control, exercise only, multi-modal rehabilitation) stratified by sex, age and location preference. Rolling recruitment will occur with ten cohorts total (2-3 cohorts per site, n=33 participants per cohort), enrolled across the partner Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) sites. Building upon the RCT, we aim to understand which components of a functional rehabilitation program are essential to change the trajectory of sarcopenia in older adults and explore the feasibility of a functional rehabilitation program with older adults. All participants will be screened for sarcopenia at baseline. Of the 324 participants, a subset of participants with sarcopenia will undergo additional assessments. A validated frailty questionnaire can be administered over the phone and will provide an estimate of frailty status. Stratified block randomization (1:1 randomization ratio) with the allocation sequence generated by a computer will be used to randomly allocate eligible participants to their group assignment. Participants will be stratified based on their sex, age (\<80 or \>=80 years), and location preference. To protect against selection bias, the randomization sequence will be adequately concealed so that investigators/participants are not aware of the upcoming assignment. The proposed duration of treatment is 4-months. Primary and secondary outcomes will be assessed at 0 and 4-months.