Spread and Scale of a Polypharmacy App to Improve Health Outcomes of Older Adults Living in New Brunswick Nursing Homes
Introduction:
Jenna welcomes the team working on a deprescribing pilot project to the show. The project’s Research Coordinators Cody Davenport and Marc-Éric Nadeau accompany Justine Henry — executive director at CIRA — as well as project lead Dr. Emily MacDonald from McGill University in a discussion on the impacts of polypharmacy and the benefits of deprescription in older adults.
We’re all aging, and everyone’s talking about it!
Key Takeaways
[:40] Jenna welcomes today’s guests and starts off the conversation with Justine Henry on an overview of who CIRA is and what they do.
[3:07] Dr. MacDonald breaks down what Polypharmacy is and how it has evolved in the past decade.
[4:13] Cody talks about the MedReviewer app and how it works in conjunction with MedSafer in order to begin decreasing potentially inappropriate or damaging prescriptions for older adults.
[7:15] This web app is designed to be used by healthcare professionals, doctors, pharmacists, etc. Marc-Éric explains the training required to use the app.
[10:00] Dr. MacDonald touches on the potential harms of taking a lot of different medications.
[12:54] Dr. MacDonald talks about how MedReviewer addresses the issues that previous approaches for addressing polypharmacy left behind.
[14:41] Cody and Marc-Éric share what community partners have gotten involved as well as the ones that partnered to develop the app itself.
[16:00] Patient safety in general as well as for deprescription is a primary concern; Dr. MacDonald speaks to the importance of assessment and how the app addresses this.
[18:24] The future of MedReviewer and the team’s hope for polypharmacy. Justine Henry shares plans for the future of the pilot project.
[21:14] Jenna thanks the team for coming on the podcast. Until next time, subscribe, rate, and share!
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Mentioned in this episode
The MileAGE Podcast
Healthy Seniors Pilot Project Program
CIRA Center for Innovation and Research in Aging
Missing Link Technologies
New Brunswick Community College
Rising Health Network
McGill University Health Center
More about your hosts
Jenna Roddick at APPTA
Jenna Roddick on Twitter
Jenna Roddick on LinkedIn
More about today’s guest
Dr. Emily MacDonald is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in General Internal Medicine and the Director of the Department of Medicine Clinical Practice Assessment Unit. Her research focuses on drug safety and effectiveness with a particular emphasis on polypharmacy and deprescribing in older adults.
More about Dr. McDonald here.
Justine Henry, Executive Director at CIRA, has worked as a researcher in many fields including behavioral psychology, adulthood and aging, chronic pain, and human sexuality.
Cody Davenport, Research Coordinator at CIRA, has an honors degree in Kinesiology from the University of New Brunswick and is currently taking a Master of Science in Kinesiology at the University of Alberta.
Marc-Éric Nadeau, Research Coordinator at CIRA, has a degree in psychology from the University of Moncton and is currently taking a Masters in Counseling Psychology at the University of New Brunswick.
More about the CIRA team here.
