Mon 14 August 2023
Empowering Australians to be ‘MedsAware’ through deprescribing
MedsAware 2023: Deprescribing Action Week (14-20 August) has launched across Australia, driving conversations around discontinuing medicines that are no longer required, or for which the risk of harm outweighs the benefits in the individual.
Running until Sunday 20 August and led by the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) – in partnership with the Australian Deprescribing Network (ADeN), COTA Australia and the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) Research Team – MedsAware seeks to empower Australians and their carers, family and friends, together with pharmacists, doctors, nurses and other care team members, to optimise every medicines regimen to ensure it is current, effective and safe.
SHPA President Tom Simpson says ‘polypharmacy’ is a barrier to ensuring the safe and quality use of medicines in aged care.
‘Australian research indicates nine in 10 Australians in aged care take at least five regular medicines every day, and 65% take more than 10.
‘This is “polypharmacy” and “hyperpolypharmacy” respectively, associated with increased risk of functional decline and preventable, medicine-related harm and hospitalisation.
‘With 250,000 Australians admitted to hospital each year due to medicines-related harms, many of which are preventable - we need to break this cycle. MedsAware Week is about empowering the community to ask care teams: “Could any of these medicines be doing more harm than good?”’
ADeN Chair Dr Emily Reeve says as people age, both the benefits and harms of medicines can change.
‘Medicines that were once beneficial and appropriate may, over time, become suitable for 'deprescribing'.
‘The purpose of deprescribing is to reduce medicine-related harms, and the burden and costs to individuals - while ensuring that appropriate medicines are continued, to optimise outcomes for Australians.’
COTA CEO Pat Sparrow says it is important older Australians are supported to have conversations about reviewing, reducing or discontinuing their medicines. ‘We welcome this national focus on deprescribing, which places the patient at the centre, and includes them through safer shared decision-making with pharmacists, doctors and nurses working together.
Deprescribing is not about stopping medicines, it is about encouraging conversations and making sure the medication continues to support older people to live their life they want to.’
Mr Simpson says deprescribing is in the DNA of SHPA, Australia’s pharmacy organisation for team-based, specialty pharmacist care.
‘The world’s first published use of “deprescribing” was in our flagship Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research (JPPR) 20 years ago, in ‘Deprescribing: Achieving Better Health Outcomes for Older People through Reducing Medications’.
‘Pharmacists with specialty skills are best placed to detect and prevent inappropriate use of high-risk medicines, including antipsychotics, that are widespread in residential aged care facilities.
‘We’re proud to lead the MedsAware message and work with our partners to embed deprescribing as a central principle of safe health care, to reduce inappropriate polypharmacy and hyperpolypharmacy and ensure more Australians stay out of hospital.’