Polypharmacy and Deprescribing
Resource Topic: Medication
Tools to Boost Vaccine Confidence in LTC Teams
Getting vaccinated is critical to protecting yourself, your loved ones and our most vulnerable Ontarians from COVID-19. Each person vaccinated brings us one step closer to eliminating COVID-19 from our long-term care homes and our communities.
That’s why we’re working to build vaccine confidence — and where you come in. People are more likely to listen to someone they know and trust. You can help boost vaccination rates by engaging with your colleagues and community on vaccine safety.
Jump to… ProTect Framework | Why You Should Get the Vaccine Videos | Multilingual Library of Vaccine Information
COVID Care Learning
The rapid rise and severity of COVID-19 cases in long-term care (LTC) has led to the urgent redeployment of health professionals to LTC environments. The Ontario COVID-19 Education Task Force (powered by Michener Institute of Education at UHN), in partnership with the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) and the Baycrest Centre for Education, developed an LTC section on covidcarelearning.ca, an online learning management system to support upskilling for health-care workers being redeployed for COVID-19 care.
Please share this resource with incoming team members who are new to the LTC environment. These materials facilitate redeployment to a team-based model of care quickly and safely in LTC homes, and support team members to bridge their knowledge from current practice to the requirements to care for COVID-19 and other residents.
ECHO Care of the Elderly for LTC: COVID-19
Project ECHO Care of the Elderly is a telehealth, case-based learning program run by Baycrest and North East Specialized Geriatric Centre (NESGC) to enhance the quality of care to LTC residents by improving the knowledge and skills of their primary care providers. This session focuses on building resiliency in LTC team members during COVID-19.
These are unprecedented times that put extra pressure on LTC homes and team members. These recorded sessions will help those working in LTC build resiliency and strengthen their LTC teams.
Watch the Recordings
The Ontario Deprescribing in LTC Report
Deprescribing.org
A framework and tools for encouraging discussions about deprescribing
Older adults living in long-term care (LTC) homes often take many medications each day – sometimes this is not necessary and can even be harmful. Deprescribing is the planned and supervised process of reducing doses or stopping medications.
Decisions about medications for residents are best made when people work together with their health-care providers. Everyone in an LTC resident’s care team can help make medication-related care safe and effective.
The Bruyère Deprescribing Research Team worked with stakeholders across Ontario’s LTC sector to identify four behaviours and develop supporting tools that help deprescribing become a part of the culture of care. Click on the links in each behaviour to access tools such as process guides, infographics, cue cards and videos:
- People living in LTC homes and their families/caregivers will participate in shared decision-making to establish and monitor goals of care with respect to medication use while taking into consideration effectiveness, safety and non-drug alternatives.
- All healthcare providers and personnel will observe for signs and symptoms in the people they care for and report changes as a result of medication adjustments, or changes that might prompt a deprescribing review.
- Prescribers in every health care setting will document reasons for use, goals and timelines for each medication.
- All members of the health care team will participate in conversations about deprescribing.
The Bruyère Deprescribing Research Team is a partner of Ontario CLRI at Bruyère. For more information about how these behaviours were identified, read the Deprescribing in LTC report.
Additional resources and tools for optimizing medication use in older adults
- Five evidence-based guidelines that help health care providers make informed assessments of a resident’s medication and explore possibilities for non-drug treatments.
- “Talking about Medications” workshops that can be offered to residents, caregivers and staff to help people have discussions about medication decisions. “Talking About Medications” Materials – Deprescribing.org
- The Canadian Deprescribing Network raises public awareness about deprescribing and provides resources to address safe drug and non-drug approaches. Do I still need this medication? Is deprescribing for you? (deprescribingnetwork.ca)
Author/Source
Deprescribing.org houses deprescribing guidelines and other resources developed by Dr. Barbara Farrell and Dr. Lisa McCarthy’s research team at the Bruyere Research Institute (Ottawa). Barbara and Lisa are pharmacists who work with older people and are concerned about the risks associated with medications in this population.
To learn more about their work visit deprescribing.org.
Supported by:
Chronic Disease Management: Implications for long-term care homes
Webinar Description:
This webinar provides practical insights and suggestions to collaboratively work with long-term care residents living with chronic conditions, their interprofessional team, and family member care partners.
This webinar was offered by the Ontario CLRI hosted at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging and was presented on February 27, 2018.
About the Presenter:
Dr. George Heckman graduated in 1991 Doctor of Medicine at University of Toronto, Ontario Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, with specialist certification in Internal Medicine (1999) and Geriatric Medicine Master of Science (Health Research Methodology, McMaster University in 2006). He holds a Schlegel Research Chair in Geriatric Medicine and is presently an Associate Professor with the department of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. Research interests include management of heart failure in long term care and other frail seniors, primary care management of dementia, home care safety and vascular aging.
GeriMedRisk
GeriMedRisk is an interdisciplinary telemedicine consultation and education service for doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists in Ontario. Using telephone and eConsult, clinicians receive a coordinated response to questions regarding optimizing medications, mental health and comorbidities in older adult patients from a team of geriatric specialists and pharmacists. GeriMedRisk is a not-for-profit service for clinicians.