Care of older people

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.…

Bridging interventions best for hospital discharge of older adults

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 patients

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 cancer

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.…

Failing the frailest

A new analysis suggests that thousands of vulnerable older people could be at risk because their medicines have not been reviewed by their GP.…

Tens of thousands of severely frail older people miss out on vital medicines checks

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 finds

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

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…

Medication dosing could be ‘poisoning’ older people because of age exclusion in clinical trials

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.…