Multicomponent interventions and technologies to reduce the burden of frailty, functional, and cognitive decline: insights from the Age-It Research Program

Publication date: 28 Set 2025

JournalSource: OPENALEXOpenAlex type: articleOpen Access
Authors: Chukwuma Okoye, Luca Cuffaro, Federico Emanuele Pozzi, Maria Cristina Ferrara, Marianna Noale, Stefano Calciolari, Davide Chicco, Febo Cincotti, Roberta Daini, Alberto Finazzi, Luca Francioso, Francesca Gasparini, Eleonora Pagan, Patrizia Ribino, Zaira Romeo, Gessica Sala, Vincenzo Solfrizzi, Antonella Zambon, Stefania Maggi, Giuseppe Bellelli, Carlo Ferrarese, Spoke 8 Age-It Working Group, Cristna Airoldi, Alessandra Aloisi, Ildebrando Appollonio, Chiara Bazzini, Mario A. Bochicchio, M. Bologna, Elvira Brattico, Giuseppe Bruno, Martina Bulgari, Marco Canevelli, Simonetta Capone, Chiara Ceolin, Ferdinando Chiaradonna, Emma Colamarino, Elisa Conti, Andrea Corsonello, Gabriella Cortelessa, Lucilla Crudele, Carlo Custodero, Annamaria De Luca, Marianna Diletta Delussi, Claudia Di Napoli, Vittorio Dibello, Matteo Franchi, Diego Ganora, Loreto Gesualdo, Eris Goldin, Alessandra Agnese Grossi, Valeria Isella, Roberta Lenti, Alessandro Leone, Sandro Locati, Antonio Logrieco, Giancarlo Logroscino, Eleonora Macchia, Paola Mantuano, Azzurra Massimi, Paolo Matteini, Giovanni Messina, Luca Moretti, Antonino Natalello, Ivan Orlandi, Giovanni Paragliola, Giulia Paparella, Sara Pegoraro, Vito Pirrelli, Nicola Quaranta, Giovanni Renato Riccardi, Daniele Romano, Aurora Saibene, Alessandro Sala, Elisa Sciurti, Serino Luca, Pietro Aleardo Siciliano, Francesco Silanos, Alessio Tamburrano, Giorgia Tosi, Alina Tratsevich, Lucio Tremolizzo, Paolo Villari, Alberto Vezzoso, C Zoia

OBJECTIVES: Preventing age-related complications is a critical priority for health systems. Within the Age-It program, Spoke 8 aims to evaluate scalable, multicomponent, technology-assisted interventions to prevent frailty and mitigate functional and cognitive decline in older adults across different care settings. METHODS: Spoke 8 includes three clinical studies conducted in community, hospital, and long-term care settings, supported by cross-cutting work packages on digital infrastructure, technology development, and economic evaluation. The intervention model integrates physical, cognitive, nutritional, and psychosocial components, supported by digital tools, biomarkers of aging, and a centralized data platform. RESULTS: The project is expected to generate evidence on the effectiveness, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness of multidomain interventions implemented across diverse real-world settings, including community, hospital, and long-term care. Technology-assisted strategies-such as wearable sensors and digital cognitive tools-may enhance adherence and enable remote monitoring, while also supporting more personalized care delivery. The integration of artificial intelligence will facilitate the interpretation of complex clinical and biological data, improving risk stratification and the early identification of individuals most likely to benefit from targeted interventions. Together, these approaches may help reduce hospitalizations, delay functional decline, and promote aging in place. DISCUSSION: This initiative supports the transition toward more integrated and equitable care models for older adults. Through the implementation of scalable, person-centered interventions within routine services, the project offers policy-relevant strategies to address frailty and functional decline-contributing to the redesign of aging care in Italy and providing insights applicable across diverse health systems facing the challenges of population aging countries.

Origin
The Journals of Gerontology Series B
Volume
80
Issue
Supplement_2
Pages
S180-S188
Cited by
3