polypharmacy
Clinical tips: palliative care
It’s important to look into whether use of certain medicines is appropriate for people with life-limiting illnesses,writes Ben Basger Pre-existing medical conditions commonly occur in people with life-limiting illnesses. Generally, …
Pharmacists to tackle aged care overmedication
Hundreds of English pharmacists are set to be deployed into care homes to help reduce overmedication and unnecessary hospitalisations NHS England has announced that around 180,000 people living in nursing …
Meds management initiative reduces medication errors
When Prahran resident Mark Scott’s mother was hospitalised last year, support from a community pharmacist on her return home helped significantly Mark’s mother, 85, was receiving daily visits from Bolton …
Clinical tips: the ‘worried unwell’
Karalyn Huxhagen takes a look at supporting patients with low health literacy and limited health professional access We have all met the “worried well”. These are the customers who give …
Meet the pharmacist who wants to reduce patients’ drug intake
A Western Sydney pharmacist has created a business helping her customers understand that medicines aren’t everything Joanne Vella loves it when her customers ask her about dodgy health information they’ve …
Pharmacy vital but overlooked in palliative care
Pharmacists represent an enormous untapped potential in end-of-life care, says Palliative Care Australia’s CEO Liz Callaghan is encouraging Australia’s pharmacists to take an interest in palliative care, including not only …
Research Roundup
Debbie Rigby rounds up the latest in research news Pharmacist comprehensive review of treatment compared with STOPP-START criteria to detect potentially inappropriate prescription in older complex patients A prospective multicentre …
Deprescribing is tough in “time-poor” environments
But it is an important advancement that requires our immediate attention, says this hospital pharmacist Sophie Paviour from Redland-Wynnum Hospitals in Brisbane has asked fellow pharmacists to be more conscious of …
Research Roundup
Debbie Rigby rounds up the latest in research news Systematic Review of Errors in Inhaler Use: Has Patient Technique Improved Over Time? A systematic search for articles reporting direct observation …
Tackling the ‘prescribing cascade’ in seniors
Older Australians may not be aware that they are on a ‘prescribing cascade’, where they take one medicine and have an adverse reaction, so are put on another medicine, says …
Medicines to treat side effects of other medicines?
Sometimes less is more beneficial, say University of Sydney researchers Jesse Jansen, Senior Research Fellow, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney Andrew McLachlan, Professor of Pharmacy (Aged Care), University of …
Clinical Tips: Medication health for seniors
Dr Ben Basger looks at how pharmacists can protect seniors from adverse events caused by medications Did you know that one in four community-living older people are hospitalised for medication-related …