What is the Frailty, Health and Care Needs Assessment (FHCNA) tool?
The Frailty, Health and Care Needs Assessment (FHCNA), aims to help practitioners identify frailty and other health and care priorities for people experiencing homelessness.
It was co-designed in workshops (online and in person) with homelessness and inclusion health staff.
It’s feasibility was tested by staff and their clients in two hostels, with pre- and post-study focus groups held with hostel staff to gain input and feedback.
At the validation stage the FHCNA was used by keyworkers to collect information from 74 pairs residents (62% of eligible hostel residents). The mean age of clients was 48 years (range 22–82 years).
High levels of unmet need were identified. Over half (53%) were identified as frail. Common concerns included difficulty walking (46%), frequent falls (43%), chronic pain (36%), mental health issues (57%) and dental concerns (50%). While 59% of clients reported difficulty in performing at least one basic activity of daily living, only 14% had undergone a Care Act Assessment.
For more details on the validation work you can read the paper: The Frailty, Health and Care Needs Assessment (FHCNA): development of the questionnaire and testing its feasibility in homeless hostel accommodation.
By identifying unmet needs, the FHCNA tool has the potential to support staff to advocate for access to health and social care support. It is freely available for download and use below:
Please get in touch for more info: briony.hudson@ucl.ac.uk