Medication reviews in senior community housing centers

Abstract

Objective: The primary objective was to document the frequency and types of medication-related problems (MRPs) identified by a pharmacist or pharmacy student during medication reviews at senior community housing centers.

Setting: The setting included five urban senior community housing centers in Chicago, Illinois.

Practice description: Two pharmacists and pharmacy students practicing in a community health center. The health center provides outreach to the community, with a focus on the senior population.

Practice innovation: Pharmacists and pharmacy students developed an outreach program to provide medication reviews within senior community housing centers. To show the value of the services provided by the health center to the community, a system for tracking the identified MRPs was implemented.

Main outcome measures: Frequency and types of MRPs.

Results: A total of 119 MRPs were identified, with a mean of 5.2 (standard deviation +/- 4.3) MRPs per patient. The mean age of participants was 75.1 +/- 8.5 years (range 63-90); the majority of participants were female (82.6%). The average number of total medications per patient was 7.7 (range 3-16). The most frequently identified MRPs were related to laboratory monitoring (28.6%, n = 34), compliance (25.2%, n = 30), unnecessary drug therapy (13.4%, n = 16), and need for additional therapy (10.9%, n = 13). The majority of participants (57.5%, n = 13) were referred to another health care professional to resolve a problem identified by the pharmacist.

Conclusion: In urban senior community housing centers, a MRP by pharmacists is a means to identify MRPs and to provide community service.