Quality use of medicine in ageing needs a balance between harm and benefit and delivery with consent and collaboration
Medicines used to optimise ageing in older people is a balance between managing disease and avoiding medicines related problems such as side effects and medicine errors.
For people living with a complex disease like dementia the management of appropriate medication can be even more challenging. While medicines can control symptoms and prevent disease, they can also cause harm.
The research outcomes, resources and recommendations detailed here provide clinicians, pharmacists, aged care providers, government, and people with dementia and their families evidence-based information on medication management strategies in a variety of settings.
The goal of the Recommendations for a National Strategic Action Plan to reduce Inappropriate Polypharmacy is to improve quality use of medicines to optimise successful ageing in older Australians.
Deprescribing medicines
Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline for Deprescribing Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine
Vitamin D Study
Researchers from the University of Sydney examined the implementation of vitamin D supplements in Australian residential aged care facilities to reduce falls.
Reducing medication complexity
A multi-disciplinary team developed a tool for aged care facilities to simplify medication and conducted a trial to measure its effectiveness
Telehealth for medication management
The aim of this project was to test a modified existing telehealth platform to support collaboration of Geriatricians and Pharmacists in the Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMRs) in residential aged care.
Medication Review Tool
A new tool has been developed that allows healthcare practitioners to have a coordinated approach to identifying inappropriate polypharmacy in older adults.
Our dementia research
The CDPC focuses on developing evidence-based guidelines and tools to implement best practice dementia care in the clinical, care and community environments on these themes: