Swansea dementia study examines medication management in care homes
A new study by Swansea University academics of people with dementia who live in care homes and have been prescribed medicines for their mental health, has found that structured scrutiny by their nurses has led to improvements in prescribing practice, pain management and greater awareness of adverse side effects.
The study, published in PLOS ONE, conducted by a team from the University’s College of Human and Health Sciences and the Medical School, looked at whether enhanced nurse-led monitoring of medication side effects could help reduce these effects, also known as preventable Adverse Drug Reaction (ADRs). ADRs are known to have significant impacts on patients and the NHS, and result in:-
- 5-8% of UK unplanned hospital admissions
- 20.8% (60/290) of preventable emergency re-admissions within one year of discharge
- 4-6% of UK hospital bed occupancy
- £1-2.5bn in annual costs to the NHS
Study
The research team focused on a sample of 41 patients living in five care homes who had been prescribed medication in three key groups: –
- antipsychotics
- anti-epileptics
- antidepressants
The nurses that took part in the study followed the West Wales ADR (WWADR) Profile for Mental Health Medicines with their patients. This helped provide them with a structured framework for routine nursing care, aiming to:-
- minimise ADRs without compromising the benefits of medicines
- identify, monitor and address any possible adverse drug reactions associated with medicines prescribed for mental health
- ensure problems are communicated to prescribers
- facilitate shared decision-making with service users and within the multi-disciplinary team
Results
The study found that introducing the WWADR Profile for Mental Health Medicines could help improve the quality and safety of care for people living with dementia.
Using the WWADR Profile could help increase professionals’ and patients’ awareness of ADRs. It would also address the concerns of public bodies over side-effects or under-reporting of ADRs1 or suboptimal medicines’ management (for example, the Trusted to Care Report). It could also help to improve:-
- the pain management of people with dementia
- proactive and prompt sharing of prescribing information when patients are transferred between care settings
- the implementation of recommendations from inquiries into health care failings.
Dr Sue Jordan who led the study said: “We found that increased monitoring and intervention is effective low cost, low risk and convenient for service users and professionals. It offers potential for cost savings and increased quality and safety of care.
“It is useful to point out that profiles do not replace clinical knowledge and experience, but they bring together information on signs and symptoms in a succinct, formal assessment, and suggest solutions to problems that could be related to prescribed medicines.
“We now need larger, multicentre trials to examine long-term effects of structured medicines’ monitoring on clinical outcomes, nurses’ workloads, and bridging the gap between patients and prescribers.”
The study can be viewed here.
