Updated resources for “Talking About Medications” workshop

We are 2 pharmacists working with the Bruyère Deprescribing Research Team (deprescribing.org) and are writing in regard to the article “ ‘Talking About Your Medications’: A workshop series aimed at helping older adults participate in conversations about their medications.” ¹ We recently facilitated these workshops with caregivers of people living in long-term care.

Through Family Councils of Ontario, we organized these virtual workshops to understand caregivers’ perspectives on how we could adapt the series to help them have conversations with health care providers about the medications of the person for whom they care. Seven caregivers from across Ontario participated and provided feedback through group discussions and individual phone calls.

Here is an overview of some of the changes made to the materials:

• The series title was changed from “Talking About Your Medications” to “Talking About Medications.”

• Throughout the material, the wording was modified to be more general (e.g., “your health care provider” became “the health care provider) and inclusive to both audiences (e.g., “for you” became “for you or the person you care for”).

• Slides were added to help people recognize potentially drug-related signs and symptoms in someone else, identify additional moments for medication safety (e.g., when goals of care change) and understand potential alternatives to medications (e.g., physiotherapy).

• The fillable medication chart was expanded (e.g., added a prompt on how medications were administered and a more thorough immunization history list).

• Tips for the long-term care setting were added to the Facilitator’s Toolkit, such as suggestions on obtaining medication lists, the importance of empowering the resident in shared decision making, additional tools for communication, and resources for caregivers to prevent burnout.

Overall, we felt that the caregivers were really engaged in the discussions and enjoyed being able to share their experiences on medication management in long-term care.

We have revised the materials for health care providers interested in hosting these workshops for the members of the public and caregivers. The updated resources can be found here: https://deprescribing.org/talking-about-medications-workshop-materials/.

—Sameera Toenjes, RPh, PharmD, BSc, ACPR
—Angel Deng, RPh, PharmD, BSc