Clinical Frailty Scale in Care Homes: An Implementation Study of Process and Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives

Background: Limited evidence exists on implementation of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) in care homes. Aim: To explore implementation of the CFS in a care home, focusing on implementation strategies, provider penetration, and healthcare professionals’ perspectives. Methods: In this implementation study, implementation strategies were retrospectively specified, and an online questionnaire assessed provider penetration, acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. The study was reported according to the StaRI checklist. Findings: The implementation process comprised three components, operationalised through seven activities and multiple strategies targeting procedure adaptation, competence improvement, and innovation usability. Twenty-four professionals responded; 25% (6/24) reported experience using the scale. Median scores for Acceptability of Intervention Measure, Intervention Appropriateness Measure, and Feasibility of Intervention Measure were 4.4, 4.0, and 4.1. Conclusion: Multiple implementation strategies were applied, provider penetration was limited, and professionals reported positive perceptions of the CFS during this early implementation phase.