Benefits of medicines optimisation for older people living with frailty
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Benefits of medicines optimisation for older people living with frailty

Sue Lyne Nurse consultant for older people, frailty practitioner, out of hospitals, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Bexhill-on-Sea, England
Ceri McEwan Medicines optimisation pharmacist, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Bexhill-on-Sea, England

Why you should read this article
  • To learn about the benefits of medicines optimisation in older people living with multimorbidity and frailty

  • To understand how the multidisciplinary team can work together to optimise a patient’s medicines and reduce polypharmacy

  • To familiarise yourself with a seven-step process for reviewing a patient’s medicines

Medicines optimisation involves ensuring that medicines are administered safely and effectively. In the UK, an ageing population and an increasing prevalence of polypharmacy mean that interprofessional medicines reviews and medicines optimisation are vital. This article uses a case study of an older person living with frailty to provide a critical analysis of the medicines optimisation process in optimising health outcomes. The case study focuses on the medicines prescribed, the issues that can arise such as polypharmacy, and the benefits of a medicines-optimisation approach.

Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2021.e1326

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@Chatburn8Sue

Correspondence

Chatburn8@icloud.com

Conflict of interest

None declared

Lyne S, McEwan C (2021) Benefits of medicines optimisation for older people living with frailty. Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2021.e1326

Published online: 24 March 2021

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