This qualitative study explored the medication management experiences of Australian ethnic minority family caregivers of people living with dementia. From the perspective of this group of caregivers, medication management was a source of stress resulting from the progressive loss of ability of care recipients to manage their own medications; the complexity of the medication regime and the caregiver's lack of trust of the care recipient to safely and effectively manage medications. Caregivers used various strategies to manage medications and avoid conflict with care recipients including being watchful and involving other family members in medication management tasks. Family caregivers indicated that a lack of information and access to support to inform their medication management role added to their stress, which was exacerbated in some cases by limited English proficiency. Supportive factors noted by caregivers included a well-established relationship with a community pharmacist, involvement of a geriatrician, family support and caregiver support group participation. KeywordsCommunity, dementia, ethnic minority, family caregiver, medication management Supportive factors noted by caregivers included a well-established relationship with a community pharmacist, involvement of a geriatrician, family support and caregiver support group participation.

Aims and objectives To explore published literature that describes what is known about the role of informal caregivers as they manage medications for older adults and/or people living with dementia residing in the community. Background The number of informal caregivers of older adults, including people living with dementia, is growing worldwide. Good medication management by informal caregivers contributes to improved health outcomes and reduced institutionalisations for the care recipient; however, little is known about this domain of care. Design Narrative review. Methods A literature search was conducted to identify relevant research articles written in English between January 2000-April 2013, sourced from online database searches using multiple keywords, reviewing reference lists and citations of key articles and Internet searches. Articles were included if they described informal caregiver medication management for older adults and/or people living with dementia. Results Ten articles were found that described this role from the perspective of the informal caregiver. The evidence suggests that this role is complex and is often made more difficult because of increasing medication regimen complexities, aspects of the relationship between the caregiver and the care recipient, healthcare system practices and a lack of information and/or training available to the informal caregiver, especially when caring for people living with dementia. Conclusion Responsibility for managing medications for older adults and/or people living with dementia in the community often falls to informal caregivers. More information resources are required for this role, which requires specific medication management skills and knowledge and is further complicated by the cognitive decline of the care recipient.

Aims: This review investigates the factors that influence deprescribing of medications in primary care from the perspective of general practitioners (GPs) and community-living older adults. Methods:A mixed studies review structure was adopted searching Scopus, CINAHL, PsychINFO, ProQuest, and PubMed from January 2000 to December 2017. A manual search of reference lists was also conducted. Studies were included if they were original research available in English and explored general deprescribing rather than deprescribing of a specific class of medications. The Mixed Methods Assessment Tool was used to assess the quality of studies, and content analysis generated common categories across studies.Results: Thirty-eight articles were included, and 7 key categories were identified.The review found that the factors that influence deprescribing are similar across and within health systems and mostly act as barriers. These factors remained unchanged across the review period. The structural organisation of health systems remains poorly suited to facilitate deprescribing. Individual knowledge gaps of both GPs and older adults influence practices and attitudes towards deprescribing, and significant communication gaps occur between GPs and specialists and between GPs and older adults. As a result, deprescribing decision making is characterised by uncertainty, and deprescribing is often considered only when medication problems have already arisen. Trust plays a complex role, acting as both a barrier and facilitator of deprescribing. towards reducing polypharmacy (including deprescribing), from the perspective of both community-living older adults and GPs. This is important because, as mentioned earlier, deprescribing is most often considered in the context of the treatment of older adults. ConclusionsThe purpose of the current review is to build on Bokhof and JuniusWalker 24 work by investigating the factors that influence deprescribing from the perspective of both GPs and adults aged 65 years or older.Independent, community-living older adults are the focus of this review, as the majority of this group retain autonomy and are capable of being responsible for their own health decisions, 17 hence the importance of considering deprescribing from their perspective. Given the increasing evidence that is now available on this topic, a review that incorporates all study types is warranted. Interventions to promote deprescribing will require change on the part of both prescribers and older adults, so it is important to consider how their views interact to create the context where deprescribing discussions can take place. | METHODSA mixed studies review methodology was used as a guide to explore the factors that influence deprescribing. 27,282.1 | Eligibility criteria | Inclusion criteriaFull text primary research articles were included that were available in English, published between January 2000 and December 2017, and that investigated deprescribing or medication cessation/discontinuation in the primary care context for ...

Aim: This study aimed to explore attitudes, beliefs and experiences regarding polypharmacy and discontinuing medications, or deprescribing, among community living older adults aged ≥65 years, using ≥5 medications. It also aimed to investigate if health literacy capabilities influenced attitudes and beliefs towards deprescribing. Background: Polypharmacy use is common among Australian older adults. However, little is known about their attitudes towards polypharmacy use or towards stopping medications. Previous studies indicate that health literacy levels tend to be lower in older adults, resulting in poor knowledge about medications. Methods: A self-administered survey was conducted using two previously validated tools; the Patients' Attitude Towards Deprescribing (PATD) tool to measure attitudes towards polypharmacy use and deprescribing and the All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale (AAHLS) to measure functional, communicative and critical health literacy. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted. Findings: The 137 responses showed that 80% thought all their medications were necessary and were comfortable with the number taken. Wanting to reduce the number of medications taken was associated with concerns about the amount taken (P < 0.001), experiencing side effects (P < 0.001), or believing that one or more medications were no longer needed (P < 0.000). Those who were using ten or more medications were more likely to want to reduce the number taken (P = 0.019). Most (88%) respondents would be willing to stop medication/s in the context of receiving this advice from their doctor. Willingness to consider stopping correlated with higher scores on the critical health literacy subscale (P < 0.021) and overall AAHLS score (P < 0.009). Those with higher scores on the overall AAHLS measure were more likely to report that they understood why their medications were prescribed (P < 0.000) and were more likely to participate in decisionmaking (P = 0.027). Opportunities to proactively consider deprescribing may be missed, as one third of the respondents could not recall a recent review of their medications.

Polypharmacy is increasing among older Australians, raising their risk of experiencing medication-related harm. As part of the prescribing continuum, deprescribing is a strategy proposed to reduce inappropriate polypharmacy. This study explored factors that influence deprescribing among Australian GPs using a new 21-item survey to measure GP attitudes and practices. The 85 GP responses indicated that many factors are supportive of deprescribing. GPs suggest that they are willing to explore their older patients’ deprescribing preferences; they believe that they have enough information about the potential harms and benefits of medication to inform their deprescribing decisions and are confident to communicate this information to their patients. GPs did not consider their patients would interpret deprescribing as being ‘given up on’. Limited time to review medications, poor communication between prescribers and a perception that other prescribers do not respect their role as overall coordinators of their older patients’ medications were considered by respondents to be unsupportive of deprescribing. Overall, despite GPs reporting many supportive factors for deprescribing, the influence of unsupportive factors appears to remain strong, as deprescribing is not routinely considered in practice.