None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The majority of older people living in retirement villages are at risk of medication misadventure. In our recent survey of about 2,000 retirement village residents in Victoria, two-thirds had at least one medication-related risk factor, and hence were eligible to receive a pharmacist-conducted Home Medicines Review (HMR), a government-subsidised health service recommended annually for people who are at risk of medication misadventure. However, the uptake of HMR in this group has been very low (6%). The proposed project aims to develop, implement and evaluate a multi-component intervention (based on stakeholder recommendations) for increasing HMR uptake among RV residents. The study will involve 150 to 200 retirement village residents who will be randomly allocated to one of the two groups depending on the retirement village they live in; half will receive the intervention and the others will receive usual care. The intervention comprises educating residents regarding their medication risk and benefits of HMR, and notifying residents’ general practitioners of residents’ risk of medication misadventure using a risk assessment form/checklist. Participants will be followed up by phone and questionnaire at three and six months from baseline to assess if they have had received a HMR. This information will be further confirmed with participants’ health professionals.
Interventions
This study aims to develop, implement and test a multi-component intervention for increasing HMR uptake among retirement village residents. The interventions to be tested are:
a) Home Medicines Review (HMR) education session
A consultant pharmacist (who is accredited to undertake HMRs) will provide education to participants (in group) about the role of and benefits from HMR. The consultant pharmacist will visit the retirement villages to deliver the education sessions. Information leafl
This study aims to develop, implement and test a multi-component intervention for increasing HMR uptake among retirement village residents. The interventions to be tested are: a) Home Medicines Review (HMR) education session A consultant pharmacist (who is accredited to undertake HMRs) will provide education to participants (in group) about the role of and benefits from HMR. The consultant pharmacist will visit the retirement villages to deliver the education sessions. Information leaflets about HMR will be given out to participants during these education sessions. b) Medication risk assessment A medication risk assessment checklist will be adapted from a published screening tool/checklist that is available in the public domain (Pharmacy Guild’s HMR brochure - http://www.guild.org.au/uploadedfiles/Medication_Management_Reviews/Overview/HMR%20Flyer%20A5%20blue%20Approved.pdf). After the education sessions, all participants will be asked to complete the checklist, with the pharmacist taking them through each question. The completed checklist will then be used by the consultant pharmacist to identify participants who have medication risk factors and thus could potentially benefit from a HMR. c) New referral process for HMR Participants identified as having one or more medication risk factors (e.g. with one or more tick boxes on the checklist) will be asked to give the completed medication risk checklist to their General Practitioner (GP) during their next GP visit. The education session, including the activity of participants completing medication risk checklist, will be conducted on a group basis. The entire session will last approximately one and half hour.
Sponsors
Monash University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
55 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Live in one of the participating retirement villages; Use three or more prescribed medications; Expecting to visit General Pracitioner in the next three months; Expecting to be available for follow up for at least six months from baseline; and Available for education sessions offered by a consultant or HMR pharmacist.
Exclusion criteria
Have received a Home Medicines Review (HMR) in the previous 12 months; Planning to move from their current retirement village in the next six months; Unable to give written informed consent; or Unable to communicate in English.
Outcome results
None listed