Care of older people
Old age brings with it an increased likelihood of long-term conditions, as well as the prospect of taking multiple medicines. Frailty, dementia and mobility problems all contribute to the challenges faced by healthcare services when caring for ageing populations. Much can be done to improve the lives of older people – through innovative care pathways, evidence-based medicine and research into ageing and the delivery of care. Here, you can find news stories and articles on topics ranging ...
Isolated, but not alone: how pharmacies are supporting older patients during COVID-19
Community pharmacy is providing a vital connection to support older and clinically vulnerable patients during lockdown in the UK.
Failing the frailestSubscription
A new analysis suggests that thousands of vulnerable older people could be at risk because their medicines have not been reviewed by their GP.
Case-based learning: palliative and end-of-life care in community pharmacySubscription
Community pharmacists encounter patients at all stages in their life; however, patients who require palliative care require dedicated time and special consideration.
Heart failure, older people and frailtySubscription
Diagnosis of heart failure and frailty can often be masked by other long-term conditions, making the delivery of treatment goals complicated.
Managing osteoporosis in older peopleSubscription
How to understand bone health in the context of the older person, including risk assessment, prevention and the management of osteoporosis in patients likely to have multiple comorbidities.
Putting insomnia to bedSubscription
An estimated 30–50% of the population will experience insomnia symptoms at some point in their lives and, in the UK, insomnia rates steadily rise with age. With a 2% increase in sales of over-the-counter sleep aids during 2017, pharmacists are seeing more patients with insomnia symptoms. Here we discuss the health implications of not getting enough sleep and what can be done to help people drift off.
How Kayt Blythin established a pharmacist-led medicines optimisation service in East Sussex care homes Subscription
Kayt Blythin is a principal clinical pharmacist for medicines optimisation for care homes at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.
Diagnosis and management of hospital-acquired pneumonia in older adults Subscription
Hospital‑acquired pneumonia increases the length of in-patient hospital stay and is associated with high mortality rates, particularly in older people. Pharmacists and healthcare professionals need to know how to diagnose and manage the condition, and be cognisant of the gaps in the evidence base.
Bridging interventions best for hospital discharge of older adultsSubscription
Interventions supporting medicines continuity in older people are most successful in preventing hospital readmission when they bridge the gap between hospital discharge and returning home.
Pharmacy delivery drivers to be trained to spot loneliness in older patientsSubscription
Community pharmacy drivers who deliver prescriptions to patients’ homes are to be trained to spot signs of loneliness and isolation in frail older people in a pilot being developed in Wales.
How my part-time medicines safety PhD changed prescribing practice for older people
Pharmacist Su Wood’s work on estimating reduced kidney function led to a major change in national recommendations for prescribing in older people.
It's time for comprehensive polypharmacy reviews for older people with cancerSubscription
The number of older people with cancer is growing and so is their risk of harmful polypharmacy — care for this expanding group of patients must improve.
Tens of thousands of severely frail older people miss out on vital medicines checksSubscription
At least four in ten older patients failed to receive an annual medicines use review at their GP surgery in 2019, potentially putting them at increased risk of falls or hospitalisation.
Antidepressant use soars despite static depression prevalence, study findsSubscription
Use of antidepressants among older people has more than doubled over the past 20 years, despite little change in the prevalence of depression, research published in The British Journal of Psychiatry has shown.
Individualised approach to care reduces overtreatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in frail older people Subscription
Intensive treatment with insulin and sulfonylureas in older people with low HbA1c (<53mmol/mol) can increase the risk of hypoglycaemia, morbidity and mortality. Older people are less likely to benefit from the long-term protective effects of good glycaemic control and are at risk of inappropriate polypharmacy owing to co-morbidities.
Medication dosing could be 'poisoning' older people because of age exclusion in clinical trialsSubscription
Older patients are often being ‘poisoned’ because licensed doses of drugs are only tested in younger, healthy populations, witnesses have told a House of Lords Science and Technology Committee inquiry.
