Whey protein supplementation (WPS) has been shown to improve functional outcomes in populations that are able to participate in high-intensity resistance training. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of WPS on rehabilitation outcomes in a frail, hospitalized elderly population. Men and women (n = 47) were randomly assigned to either a control group or WPS group for the length of their hospital stay. Several functional and serum measures were determined pre- and post-intervention. WPS significantly increased average daily protein intake and was well tolerated. The WPS group exhibited significant improvements in grip strength and knee extensor force over the control group, and a significant positive correlation was found between change in prealbumin and percent-increase knee extensor force. These findings support the use of WPS to improve protein nutritional status and rehabilitation outcomes in a clinical setting involving a frail, elderly population.

hile access to family physicians is of concern to many Ontarians, 1,2 this issue is particularly salient to residents of the North West Local Health Integration Network. The multiple health benefits of having a family physician are well documented. For example, people who have a family physician have lower rates of emergency department use 3 and are more likely to report that they received routine monitoring of health issues or check-ups. 2 Yet, an estimated 16.2% of residents in this health region do not have a family physician; by comparison, 6.2% of residents across the entire province lack a family physician. 4 Further, only 23.8% of residents in the North West Local Health Integration Network indicated that they accessed primary care within 48 hours of illness, whereas 43.6% of Ontarians said they did. 4 The vast geography of the area served by this network also poses access challenges. Although 46.0% of the North West Local Health Integration Network's residents live in Thunder Bay, 34.2% live in rural areas and 19.8% live in small-and medium-sized population centres scattered across 47% of Ontario's land mass. 4 Consequently, some people need to travel hundreds of kilometres by land, water and air to access health care services. 4 Even more troubling is the fact that between February 2009 and March 2017, of the 1325 people with high health care needs who did not have a family physician and were registered with Health Care Connect (an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care program designed to help Ontarians without a primary health care provider find one 5 ),