Clinical practice guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations to guide clinicians in treatment decisions. However, current guidelines provide minimal, if any, recommendations about when or how to stop medications.
This program of research is working with guideline developers and Interest Groups to explore the barriers and enablers to integrating deprescribing recommendations in guidelines. It is also engaging guideline end-users (e.g. doctors, pharmacists and nurses) about their preferences for the content, language and format of deprescribing recommendations. Overall, this work will provide guidance to guideline developers to support the development of evidence-based deprescribing recommendations which are implementable in practice.
This program of work is funded by an NHMRC Investigator Grant (Chief Investigator Dr Emily Reeve).
This program brings together world-leading experts in deprescribing, education and an innovative implementation strategy, Knowledge Brokers. The consortium includes peak national organisations for general practitioners, pharmacists, nurses and aged care, giving us direct connection to practice.
This initiative will support healthcare professionals to reduce the use of high-risk and/or unnecessary medicines by Australians, upskill the health professional workforce, build a nationwide network of Knowledge Brokers and establish an evidence-based model of nationwide health professional education (Knowledge Transfer Framework).
This program is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under the Quality Use of Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Pathology program.
One in five Australian adults have chronic pain. Opioids are medicines commonly prescribed to manage pain. But, when taken long-term, they do not improve pain or function and can cause many side effects (e.g. constipation, falls, confusion, overdose). Older Australians are more likely to take opioids and experience opioid-related harms. We will partner with consumers (older Australians living with chronic pain, their families and carers) and healthcare professionals to co-design resources to educate and empower consumers to engage in opioid deprescribing. By co-designing resources with consumers and healthcare professionals, we will make sure that they are clear and easy to use. They will support conversations between older adults and their healthcare professionals. This will help older adults to take the right pain medicines at the right doses for them, while reducing the chance of harm.
This project is supported by a grant from the AAG Research Trust (Chief Investigator Dr Aili Langford)
Ensuring optimal medicines management in people living with frailty and dementia is complex. More than half of older adults with frailty are taking five or more medicines. This can make it difficult for them to manage on their own. People with frailty and dementia are also more likely to experience side effects from their medicines. The benefits and harms of long-term medicines can change over time. This may lead to situations where medicines that were once necessary become harmful. This project aims to develop a set of principles to improve medicines management in people with frailty and dementia.
This project is supported by a grant from the AAG Research Trust (Chief Investigator Dr Shin Liau)