Report shows systemic need for better medicine use in aged care

New research by an Australian hospital pharmacist highlights the systemic need for better use of medicines in aged care.

The research, ‘Driving Change in Aged Care Pharmacy Practices Through Data’, by SHPA Geriatric Medicine Leadership Committee member Dr Lisa Pont FANZCAP (Edu.GeriMed) identified significant variations between facilities in the frequency of usage for certain types of medicine.

It demonstrated the value of using routinely collected health data to monitor the impact of polypharmacy in aged care facilities, with Pont now investigating the variation between facilities to better understand its drivers.

The project has already been recognised as one of the 10 best Australian health and medical research projects chosen from thousands of current NHMRC-funded projects.

Currently working as a clinician/researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, Pont received a Translating Research in Practice fellowship fund in 2016 while she was at Macquarie University to lead a program exploring potentially harmful medicine use in Australian nursing homes, and to trial deprescribing strategies for these medicines.

Using real-world data supplied to nursing homes from community pharmacies, Pont was able to better understand what was happening with the medicines in the aged care setting. She then worked with NPS MedicineWise to develop the tools needed to facilitate change. Her findings also formed part of the evidence base of the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s recommendations on pharmacists and residential aged care.

“Polypharmacy is extremely common in the aged care setting and it can lead to many problems such as incorrectly prescribed doses, harmful interactions and the use of unnecessary or harmful medicines,” Pont said.

“By using real-world data, we could provide feedback to people on what was happening in their facilities and arm them with the appropriate tools and support needed to enact change.”

As the incoming president of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology and outgoing Director of the SHPA, Pont is now collaborating with colleagues around the world on the use of data in pharmacy research. She also sits on an expert advisory group for the Australian Pharmacy Council to help map out the integration of data analysis, non-drug therapies and multidisciplinary teams in pharmacy education.

“At the moment, you’re either a data analyst or you’re a pharmacist,” Pont said.

“But I think that’s changing … the use of data is becoming much more essential in healthcare delivery.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Dusan Stankovic