On 26^th November, 2025, AFFIRMO researcher Dr. Marco Proietti took part in the SIMI-SIFaCT Winter School 2024, an event organised by the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri – IRCCS in Milan, Italy. This winter school, a joint initiative of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) and the Italian Society of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics (SIFaCT), focused on the integrated management of frail elderly patients, addressing challenges from hospital admission to discharge.

The winter school:

Aimed at internists and hospital pharmacists under the age of 40, the school promotes a multidisciplinary and personalised approach to elderly patient care, with particular attention to multiple pathologies, polypharmacy, and deprescribing. The program hosted 20 participants, including 10 internists and 10 pharmacists. The course included practical activities such as role-playing, clinical case simulations, and interactive discussions to enhance collaboration between the two professional figures. The goal is to optimise medication use, reduce iatrogenic risks, and ensure effective continuity of care between hospital and community settings.

The winter school addresses the challenges of managing frail elderly patients who often suffer from multiple chronic conditions and require complex medication regimens. It emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach, combining the expertise of internists and hospital pharmacists to provide personalized and patient-centred care. The program also highlights the significance of deprescribing, which involves the systematic reduction of unnecessary or harmful medications to improve patient outcomes.

AFFIRMO's Researcher at the winter school:

Dr. Marco Proietti is an Associate Professor of Internal and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Milan, Chief of the Division of Cardiogeriatric Subacute Care at IRCCS Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri in Milan, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool, John Moores University, and Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital in Liverpool, UK, and a leading researcher in cardiovascular diseases, multimorbidity, and frailty. As a key contributor to the AFFIRMO project, he focuses on improving patient-centered care pathways for atrial fibrillation and multimorbidity management. With extensive experience in clinical research and over 270 peer-reviewed publications, his primary research interests include epidemiology, clinical management, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, particularly atrial fibrillation and heart failure, as well as key geriatric conditions such as multimorbidity and frailty.

At the SIMI-SIFaCT Winter School 2024, Dr. Proietti delivered a presentation on "Frailty and Multidimensional Assessment." His lecture highlighted the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), a structured and multidisciplinary approach for evaluating frail elderly patients, which integrates medical, functional, psychological, and social aspects of care.

Drawing on recent research and clinical frameworks, Dr. Proietti explained how frailty is assessed using different models, such as:

• Frailty Phenotype (based on criteria like weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, slow walking speed, and weakness).
• Frailty Index (measuring accumulated health deficits, including symptoms, functional impairments, and comorbidities).
• Frail Scale (a simple screening tool for identifying frail patients in clinical settings).

Stay tuned for AFFIRMO’s upcoming participations in key events!