Project Rationale:

In 2002, the Romanow Commission recommended that a new program on medication management be established to assist Canadians with chronic and some life-threatening illnesses, and that this program be integrated with primary health care through “a health management approach” whereby individuals’ health is monitored by a team or network of health care providers working with the individuals themselves. The Commission further suggested an expanded role for pharmacists in this medication management program, in which they would consult with physicians and patients, monitor patients’ use of drugs, and provide better information and communication on prescription drugs.

Medication management review is particularly important for the seniors. There is considerable evidence of inappropriate prescribing and medication use in seniors and of their adverse impacts on seniors’ health and health care costs. The elderly in social and supportive housing programs are likely to be at even greater risk of medication problems by virtue of their socioeconomic status and/or frailty and disabilities.

This demonstration project therefore undertakes to develop and evaluate a pharmacist-led medication management program for seniors in a social and supportive housing program. The project is based on the premise that a strong home and community care system, integrated with the primary health care system, creates a responsive continuum of care that ultimately benefits, not only the clients, but also the health care system itself by reducing the use of services resulting from medication mismanagement in a vulnerable population.

Project Goal and Objectives:

The project goal is to assist supportive housing program clients to maintain their independence and quality of life through a coordinated program of medication management review and support that integrates primary care and community care providers.

The project objectives are:

1. to assess the need for medication management support in a supportive housing population of seniors;
2. to profile the pharmacist’s medication management interventions in this population, including those directly taken with the client and those made as care recommendations to other health care providers;
3. to identify barriers to and facilitators of interdisciplinary provision of a medication management service;
4. to estimate the cost of providing a medication management service in a supportive housing environment; and
5. to assess the impact of the service on clients’ medication taking behaviours, on the appropriateness of drug therapy, and on the use of selected health care services.