Loading...
Publication
An Intervention Program to Reduce Medication-Related Problems Among Polymedicated Home-Dwelling Older Adults (OptiMed): Protocol for a Pre-Post, Multisite, Pilot, and Feasibility Study
| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 429.68 KB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Background: Effective medication management is one of the essential preconditions for enabling polymedicated home-dwelling older adults with multiple chronic conditions to remain at home and preserve their quality of life and autonomy. Lack of effective medication management predisposes older adults to medication-related problems (MRPs) and adverse health outcomes, which can lead to the degradation of a patient’s acute clinical condition, physical and cognitive decline, exacerbation of chronic medical conditions, and avoidable health care costs. Nonetheless, it has been shown that MRPs can be prevented or reduced by using well-coordinated, patient-centered, interprofessional primary care interventions. Objective: This study aimed to explore the feasibility and acceptability of an evidence-based, multicomponent, interprofessional
intervention program supported by informal caregivers to decrease MRPs among polymedicated home-dwelling older adults with multiple chronic conditions. Methods: This quasi-experimental, pre-post, multisite pilot, and feasibility study will use an open-label design, with participants knowing the study’s objectives and relevant information, and it will take place in primary health care settings in Portugal and Switzerland. The research population will comprise 30 polymedicated, home-dwelling adults, aged ≥65 years at risk of MRPs
and receiving community-based health care, along with their informal caregivers and health care professionals.
Results: Before a projected full-scale study, this pilot and feasibility study will focus on recruiting and ensuring the active collaboration of its participants and on the feasibility of expanding this evidence-based, multicomponent, interprofessional intervention program throughout both study regions. This study will also be essential to projected follow-up research programs on informal caregivers’ multiple roles, enhancing their coordination tasks and their own needs. Results are expected at the end of 2024. Conclusions: Designing, establishing, and exploring the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention program to reduce the risks of MRPs among home-dwelling older adults is an underinvestigated issue. Doing so in collaboration with all the different actors involved in that population’s medication management and recording the first effects of the intervention will make this pilot and feasibility study’s findings very valuable as home care becomes an ever more common solution. Trial Registration: Swiss National Clinical Trials Portal 000004654; https://tinyurl.com/mr3yz8t4
Description
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Joint Swiss-Portuguese Academic Programme of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and the Foundation for Science and Technology (grant 105 995). The funding organization had no role in the study design, and it will have no role in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, writing the intended manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
Keywords
Protocol Pilot study Feasibility Medication safety Medication-related problems Medication management Home-dwelling older adults Informal caregivers Interprofessional collaboration Patient-centered care Quasi-experimental Pre-post study Polypharmacy
Citation
Pereira F, Dixe MdA, Gonçalves Pereira S, Meyer-Massetti C, Verloo H An Intervention Program to Reduce Medication-Related Problems Among Polymedicated Home-Dwelling Older Adults (OptiMed): Protocol for a Pre-Post, Multisite, Pilot, and Feasibility Study JMIR Res Protoc 2023; 12:e39130
Publisher
Publicações JMIR