Improving drug management for residents in Saskatchewan long-term care homes : Taking the team approach in long-term care

The workshop, which focused on topics • Ensuring that, for all medications, table below shows the percentage of of particular interest to those the corresponding problem or residents reviewed at each of the working in long-term care settings disease is documented; eight long-term care homes. [...] In most cases, Over the course of the physicians were signing off on demonstration project, 792 We found that the examination of medication lists generated by recommendations were made by the core medication processes pharmacists, but with limited facility care teams in response to the highlighted the efficiencies and pharmacist involvement. [...] Pharmacists were generally not cent (339) of the recommendations The subsequent changes to their spending any time at the long- were to stop one or more drugs, medication management systems term care homes, and, as a 26% (206) to change dosage or resulted in: result, did not ‘know’ any of the interval, and 14% (112) to start a • Better documentation overall (e.g., residents for whom they drug. [...] To to meet regularly, to make the Previous studies have shown that assist, the College will continue to changes they wanted to make, regular interventions made by review and revise the standards of and to document the changes they pharmacists generally result in practice for pharmacists serving made. [...] The first barrier revolved would like to see this issue become 7 The majority of the drug-related problems were judged by the care teams to be important enough to warrant a change in residents’ care or medications.