Are you worried that you or a family member may be taking too many prescription drugs and medication?
Many of our loved ones share their concerns and annoyances about taking their medications. These consist of:
• The difficulty of needing to take so many medicines
• Fear of negative effects
• Frustration with the price of medicine
• Considering whether a certain drug is the “correct” one for you or your condition but unsure
• The unsettling impression that some of those drugs don’t seem to be very effective
• The burden of getting numerous doctors to agree on a lengthy medicine list
These concerns can plague the minds of older adults and significantly decrease their well-being and quality of life.
Therefore, it is vital to ensure that you are aware of a method that can enhance or address all the issues that your loved ones have with their prescriptions if you have ever had the aforementioned concerns.
You should also seek to pay more attention to the prescription list if you or your loved ones are taking more than five drugs.
Deprescribing is a crucial step in ensuring your loved ones’ optimal health.
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Make a Complete and Current List of All the Medications a Person is Currently Consuming
Asking someone to bring in all the prescriptions they are taking so you can go over the bottles is the best way to go about this.
Team members do not depend only on the computer or chart-based drug list. These lists are frequently incomplete or outdated, particularly if our loved ones have been seeing several doctors.
Review the Rationale Behind Each Prescription
Team members think about whether this pharmaceutical usage complies with best practice recommendations or, alternatively, if it is likely to help your loved ones based on solid clinical evidence.
Together, team members and your loved ones evaluate whether the medicine is relieving symptoms or otherwise appears likely to be offering your loved ones a significant benefit.
It’s crucial to think about if the potential benefit fits someone’s values and health state. For instance, someone in their 60s may find the potential benefit more valuable than someone in their 90s if it means a 1-in-60 chance of averting a heart attack during the following 10 years.
Why Is Deprescribing Especially Vital for Your Loved Ones?
It is crucial to address deprescribing in our loved ones because as people age, additional prescription drugs are frequently written for them. According to a 2015 survey, 40% of older adults take at least five prescription drugs daily.
A lot of our loved ones encounter “inappropriate prescribing.” According to studies, 20% to 79% of our loved ones took potentially harmful medications. Older adults continue to receive prescriptions for pharmaceuticals that are on the “Beer’s List,” an American Geriatrics Society list of “Medications that Adults Should Avoid or Use with Caution,” despite recent attempts to educate clinicians on better medication prescribing.