Prescription of medicines is a fundamental component of the care of older people, but evidence suggests that pharmacotherapy in this population is often inappropriate. Pharmacists have been involved in different approaches for the optimization of prescribing and rational medication use in older people. This article describes the different models of care in which pharmacists are involved in the optimization of pharmacotherapy in older people, and reviews the impact of these approaches on both process and outcome measures. The provision of pharmaceutical care, medication reviews and educational interventions by pharmacists in the nursing home, ambulatory and acute care settings are discussed. We selected systematic reviews, reviews and original studies, and for the latter, we focused more specifically on European publications published between 2001 and 2011. From the literature reviewed, it is clear that when pharmacists play a proactive role in performing medication reviews and in the active education of other healthcare professionals, pharmacotherapy for older patients is improved. However, the evidence of the impact of pharmacists' interventions on health outcomes, quality of life or cost effectiveness of care is mixed. Better results have been reported when pharmacists are skilled and work in the context of a multidisciplinary team. Opportunities remain for multicentre, European-based, pharmacist-intervention trials in all settings, to determine the effectiveness and economic benefit of pharmacist involvement in the optimization of pharmacotherapy in older people.
BACKGROUND: Unplanned readmissions of recently discharged patients impose a significant burden on hospitals with limited bed capacity. Deficiencies in discharge processes contribute to such readmissions, which have prompted experimentation with multiple types of peridischarge interventions.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the relative efficacy of peridischarge interventions categorised into two groups: (1) single component interventions (sole or predominant) implemented either before or after discharge; and (2) integrated multicomponent interventions which have pre- and postdischarge elements.
DESIGN: Systematic metareview of controlled trials.
DATA COLLECTION: Search of four electronic databases for controlled trials or systematic reviews of trials published between January 1990 and April 2009 that reported effects on readmissions.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Among single-component interventions, only four (intense self-management and transition coaching of high-risk patients and nurse home visits and telephone support of patients with heart failure) were effective in reducing readmissions. Multicomponent interventions that featured early assessment of discharge needs, enhanced patient (and caregiver) education and counselling, and early postdischarge follow-up of high-risk patients were associated with evidence of benefit, especially in populations of older patients and those with heart failure.
CONCLUSION: Peridischarge interventions are highly heterogenous and reported outcomes show considerable variation. However, multicomponent interventions targeted at high-risk populations that include pre- and postdischarge elements seem to be more effective in reducing readmissions than most single-component interventions, which do not span the hospital–community interface.
BACKGROUND: Patients' non-adherence to medical treatment remains a persistent problem. Many interventions to improve patient adherence are unsuccessful and sound theoretical foundations are lacking. Innovations in theory and practice are badly needed. A new and promising way could be to review the existing reviews of adherence to interventions and identify the underlying theories for effective interventions. That is the aim of our study.
METHODS: The study is a review of 38 systematic reviews of the effectiveness of adherence interventions published between 1990 and 2005. Electronic literature searches were conducted in Medline, Psychinfo, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The scope of the study is patient adherence to medical treatment in the cure and care sector.
RESULTS: Significant differences in the effectiveness of adherence interventions were found in 23 of the 38 systematic reviews. Effective interventions were found in each of four theoretical approaches to adherence interventions: technical, behavioural, educational and multi-faceted or complex interventions. Technical solutions, such as a simplification of the regimen, were often found to be effective, although that does not count for every therapeutic regimen.Overall, our results show that, firstly, there are effective adherence interventions without an explicit theoretical explanation of the operating mechanisms, for example technical solutions. Secondly, there are effective adherence interventions, which clearly stem from the behavioural theories, for example incentives and reminders. Thirdly, there are other theoretical models that seem plausible for explaining non-adherence, but not very effective in improving adherence behaviour. Fourthly, effective components within promising theories could not be identified because of the complexity of many adherence interventions and the lack of studies that explicitly compare theoretical components.
CONCLUSION: There is a scarcity of comparative studies explicitly contrasting theoretical models or their components. The relative weight of these theories and the effective components in the interventions designed to improve adherence, need to be assessed in future studies.
Prescription of medicines is a fundamental component of the care of older people, but evidence suggests that pharmacotherapy in this population is often inappropriate. Pharmacists have been involved in different approaches for the optimization of prescribing and rational medication use in older people. This article describes the different models of care in which pharmacists are involved in the optimization of pharmacotherapy in older people, and reviews the impact of these approaches on both process and outcome measures. The provision of pharmaceutical care, medication reviews and educational interventions by pharmacists in the nursing home, ambulatory and acute care settings are discussed. We selected systematic reviews, reviews and original studies, and for the latter, we focused more specifically on European publications published between 2001 and 2011. From the literature reviewed, it is clear that when pharmacists play a proactive role in performing medication reviews and in the active education of other healthcare professionals, pharmacotherapy for older patients is improved. However, the evidence of the impact of pharmacists' interventions on health outcomes, quality of life or cost effectiveness of care is mixed. Better results have been reported when pharmacists are skilled and work in the context of a multidisciplinary team. Opportunities remain for multicentre, European-based, pharmacist-intervention trials in all settings, to determine the effectiveness and economic benefit of pharmacist involvement in the optimization of pharmacotherapy in older people.
