Right Message and Right Time: Maximizing Effect of Patient-Directed Education to Promote Deprescribing

Amy M Linsky^{1

2

3

4}, Kristin M Zimmerman⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center for Health Optimization and Implementation Research, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
² New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³ General Internal Medicine, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁴ General Internal Medicine, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁵ Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Editorial

Amy M Linsky et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2025 Sep.

. 2025 Sep;73(9):2654-2656.

doi: 10.1111/jgs.19604. Epub 2025 Jun 24.

Amy M Linsky^{1

2

3

4}, Kristin M Zimmerman⁵

¹ Center for Health Optimization and Implementation Research, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
² New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³ General Internal Medicine, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁴ General Internal Medicine, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁵ Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

No abstract available

Keywords: deprescribing; inappropriate prescribing; patient education.

References

1. By the 2023 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel, “American Geriatrics Society 2023 Updated AGS Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults,” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 71, no. 7 (2023): 2052–2081, https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18372.
1. E. Reeve, M. Ong, A. Wu, J. Jansen, M. Petrovic, and D. Gnjidic, “A Systematic Review of Interventions to Deprescribe Benzodiazepines and Other Hypnotics Among Older People,” European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 73, no. 8 (2017): 927–935, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228‐017‐2257‐8.
1. A. Soni, A. Thiyagarajan, and J. Reeve, “Feasibility and Effectiveness of Deprescribing Benzodiazepines and Z‐Drugs: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis,” Addiction 118, no. 1 (2023): 7–16, https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15997.
1. C. Tannenbaum, P. Martin, R. Tamblyn, A. Benedetti, and S. Ahmed, “Reduction of Inappropriate Benzodiazepine Prescriptions Among Older Adults Through Direct Patient Education: The EMPOWER Cluster Randomized Trial,” JAMA Internal Medicine 174, no. 6 (2014): 890–898, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.949.
1. T. Fulmer, K. S. Mate, and A. Berman, “The Age‐Friendly Health System Imperative,” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 66, no. 1 (2018): 22–24, https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.15076.