Improving medicines care for older people after hospital discharge
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Optimising post-discharge medicines-related care for older people living with long term conditions
IRAS ID
240564
Contact name
Justine Tomlinson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 3 days
Research summary
Background
Older adults aged 75 plus, often have significant medicines changes when they have a stay in hospital. This can lead to confusion and anxiety, resulting in medicines-related problems e.g. medicines taken incorrectly. These problems can lead to harm, hospital readmission and poorer quality of life. Older people taking multiple medicines for long-term conditions and living at home are at greater risk.
Aim
We aim to improve the follow-on medicines-related care for older patients after their stay in hospital and associated quality of life, by reducing medicines-related adverse effects including costly hospital readmission.
Patient and public involvement
Discussions with patients and carers highlight that this topic is important to patients, partly because the quality of follow-on medicines-related care provided by health and social services is inconsistent.
A patient and carer-led steering group meets regularly to guide all stages of the project including research question development, design and dissemination.
Plan
We will study older people (i.e. 75 and older) living with Type II Diabetes and frailty – chosen because careful monitoring and individualised medicines support are required.
Step 1: We will work closely with patients and their carers to fully understand where and why medicines-related problems occur by following 30 older participants for six months after a hospital stay, using interviews and information within medical records.
Step 2: We will bring together patients, carers, policy makers and healthcare professionals to explore and evaluate these results as equal partners. They will generate ideas about what might work better to reduce readmission and improve quality of life.
Step 3: We will use these findings and ideas to develop new tools and user-test them to see if they are acceptable and useable.
This application refers to step one of this project only.
Dissemination
Results will be presented to patients, healthcare professionals, policy makers and academics at local health events, in peer-reviewed journals and conferences.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/YH/0233
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion