In-house pharmacist supports better health outcomes

IMPROVED MEDICATION MANAGEMENT ADDS TO BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR AGED CARE RESIDENTS

For pharmacist Julian Soriano, being able to engage daily with residents and staff in his work as an embedded pharmacist in an aged care home is one of the most rewarding elements of his role. In-house Pharmacist Julian Soriano with a resident at Tanunda Lutheran Home.

Julian took part in a two-year trial where six pharmacists were embedded in selected residential aged care homes in country South Australia. The trial was set up by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and funded by Country SA PHN.

Usually, residents who are having issues with their medication would have to rely on a GP referral for a medication review and then wait for a visit by a pharmacist.

“The PSA recognised that there’s a huge gap in aged care homes where residents are on multiple medications and present with problems which could be resolved with enhanced medication management,” Julian says.

“There are a large number of hospital admissions due to medication errors which could be avoided with regular reviews of medication.”

At the end of the trial in July, Julian was employed as a full-time staff member at Tanunda Lutheran Home in the Barossa Valley. The results have been very positive, he says.

“We’ve achieved a very low usage of sedative medications through regular reviews and case conferencing involving the resident’s family and their GP,” Julian says.

“The review process has been very useful because it’s given us time to monitor adverse effects and behaviour and psychological symptoms so that we can make gradual adjustments. Julian says he loves the fact that he has been able to interact regularly with residents but also staff who can seek advice about medicines and benefit from training.

“Working in-house as part of the clinical team has been really rewarding because I get to know the residents, I see them every day, and their families regularly,” he says.

“The benefits are invaluable and positive in that we’ve seen an improved quality of life in many residents, and a reduced risk of incidents which could result in harm.

“Our priority is to keep people out of hospital and to manage any pain they may have.”

The initiative to embed a pharmacist as part of its clinical team has earned Tanunda Lutheran Home a spot among the finalists in the 2021 LASA innovAGEING Awards.

Recommendations in the final report of the Aged Care Royal Commission released in March 2021 said that aged care residents needed to retain the services of a pharmacist to provide comprehensive medication management to prevent harmful medicine interactions; overuse of medication or chemical restraint via inappropriate use of antipsychotics; and to allow for timely and regular medication management reviews.

The PSA’s own 2019 report, Take Care, found that 98 per cent of aged care residents have at least one medication-related problem and that more than half of residents are exposed to at least one potentially inappropriate medicine.