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Pharmacists’ perspectives on medication reviews for long-term care residents with advanced dementia: a qualitative study

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Abstract

Background Medication reviews by pharmacists have been shown to identify and reduce drug-related problems in long-term care residents. Objective To explore pharmacist perspectives of the Australian Government funded pharmacist-conducted residential medication management review and its role improving the quality and safety of prescribing in long-term care, in particular for those living with advanced dementia. Setting Australian Long-term care pharmacists. Method A qualitative research methodology approach using semi-structured interviews was used, with participants pharmacists with Residential Medication Management Review experience. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded utilising a meta-model of Physician-Community Pharmacy Collaboration in medication review. Main outcome measure Pharmacists’ perspectives on the Residential Medication Management Review and how to improve the quality of reviews for residents with advanced dementia. Results Fifteen accredited pharmacists participated. The majority believed that the Residential Medication Management Review had the potential to improve the quality and safety of medicines but highlighted systemic issues that worked against collaborative practice. Participants emphasised the importance of three-way collaboration between general practitioners, pharmacists and nursing staff and highlighted key strategies for its optimisation. Conclusion Incorporating avenues for greater communication between team members can improve collaboration between health professionals and ultimately the quality of medication reviews.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank the pharmacists who participated in interviews for this study.

Funding

The authors received no sponsorship or funding for this study. DD was supported by a UTS Doctoral Scholarship.

Conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMPACCT – Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia

    Domenica Disalvo, Tim Luckett & Meera Agar

  2. NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Alexandra Bennett

  3. School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Patricia Davidson

  4. South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Meera Agar

  5. Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW, Australia

    Meera Agar

Authors
  1. Domenica Disalvo
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  2. Tim Luckett
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  5. Meera Agar
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Correspondence to Domenica Disalvo.

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Disalvo, D., Luckett, T., Bennett, A. et al. Pharmacists’ perspectives on medication reviews for long-term care residents with advanced dementia: a qualitative study. Int J Clin Pharm 41, 950–962 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-019-00821-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-019-00821-7

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