Deprescribing Medicines

Course Overview

Polypharmacy has the potential to result in adverse events for patients, therefore, the prescribing process must not only include a review but also the cessation of medicines. This Ausmed Course looks at polypharmacy and deprescribing.

Topics

• How common is polypharmacy?
• Polypharmacy and the principles of deprescribing
• Barriers to deprescribing
• Classes of medicines for deprescribing
• Planning and managing the withdrawal of medicines.

Need

Cessation of medications may be a particularly appropriate action in certain clinical situations amongst older adults.

There is a need for education on how to safely and appropriately review a patient’s medication regime and cease unnecessary prescriptions, as this can lead to an improved quality of life for patients.

Purpose

The purpose of this Ausmed Course is to enable learners to confidently consider whether to continue, reduce or cease medications that are not effective or may no longer be appropriate for a particular person.

Learning Outcomes

• Correlate the challenges of an ageing population with medication use and polypharmacy.
• Explain to the patient or their carer the rationale for deprescribing medicines as indicated.
• Critically evaluate medicines that are at higher risk of causing older adults to experience medication-related problems.
• Plan and initiate a withdrawal trial taking into account medicines that should be ceased slowly.

Target Audience

This Ausmed Course is most relevant to pharmacists, nurse practitioners and other healthcare professionals who prescribe medications or are heavily involved in medication management.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest exists for anyone in the position to control content for this activity. Wherever possible, generic or non-proprietary names of medications or products have been used.

Educator

Jenny Gowan View profile

Dr Jenny Gowan is a practicing pharmacist, adjunct senior lecturer at Monash University and clinical associate at RMIT University. She has published over 500 educational articles, has copious experience in presentations and lectures and runs a consulting pharmacy company. Jenny was awarded the 2013 PSA Australian Pharmacist of the Year award and the 2016 AACP-MIMs Consultant Pharmacist of the Year Award.