Findings from a decade of research on physical frailty in diverse elde
rly populations are summarized and integrated. While much of the liter
ature focuses on the physical and functional consequences of chronic a
nd acute illness, we emphasize the psychosocial and behavioral aspects
of physical frailty. The underlying assumption of our approach is tha
t the psychological representation of illness and disability, as well
as the social contexts in which they occur, are important determinants
of their impact on patients and family members. We focus on both pati
ents and their primary support persons and on the comparative analysis
of different disabling conditions. A patient and family caregiver imp
act model is used to summarize major findings of our research program
and to make recommendations for intervention research.