Geriatric Medication Precautions

Contact Hours: 4.0

ACPE UAN: 0384-9999-21-106-H05-T

The National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for
Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.

Author: Elvia Sellountos, Pharm D, RPh.

This CPE activity has been designated as a knowledge-based program.

Goals & Objectives:

At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Recognize the reasons why the elderly population requires special medication precautions.

• Identify the potential drug related problems with medications prescribed to the elderly.

• Define prescribing cascade and learn to detect it to prevent medication problems in older people.

• Describe the IGRIMUP and their role in the global effort to reduce inappropriate and polypharmacy prescribing practices in older adults.

• List the tools available to identify pharmacotherapy problems to modify and improve a drug regimen for older adults.

• Review the Beers Criteria and the rationale for use in preventing Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIM) and other drugs to avoid in older persons.

• Explain the STOPP/START criteria and how it helps minimize potentially inappropriate prescribing in the elderly.

• Examine the reasoning behind Deprescribing and why it is an essential element of good prescribing practices.

• Evaluate the Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI) and its reliability as a quality measure for potentially inappropriate prescribing.

• Describe the ARMOR protocol along with its primary outcome goals, the functional status and mobility of elderly patients.

• Recognize the Good Palliative-Geriatric Practice Algorithm and how physicians use it to reduce polypharmacy.

• Recognize the FORTA method, a clinical tool designed to increase appropriateness of pharmacotherapy in older adults.

• Identify other supportive tools such as the Anticholinergic Risk Scale, Prescribing Optimization Method and the Drug Burden Index used to resolve polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate medications and potentially omitted drugs.

• Discuss the effect a CMR conducted by a pharmacist can make in decreasing medication related complications for the elderly.

• Categorize recommendations to give seniors on how to manage their medications safely to avoid drug related problems.

• Describe methods to prevent drug related problems, before prescribing and after prescribing medication for older adults. 

Release Date: 08/23/2021

Expiration Date: 08/23/2024