Challenges in Deprescribing among Older Adults in Post-Acute Care Transitions to Home.
Jinjiao Wang, Jenny Y Shen, Fang Yu and 8 others
PMID 37913819WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults leaving hospital for home health care faced deprescribing delays because visits were too short, prescribers had little time, and nurses struggled to reach doctors.
Medication lists and education remained unclear.
Key findings
01Stakeholders identified recurring challenges in post-acute deprescribing: timing, prioritization and continuity of care, education, communication, and collaboration.
02Home health care nurses said federal visit limits and short visit time restricted medication review and patient teaching.
03Patients often did not know what medications they took or why, and home medication lists missed expired or discontinued drugs.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only nine older patients were interviewed, so their experiences may not represent all patients discharged to home health care. Patients, prescribers and pharmacists were recruited from upstate New York, which may limit transfer to other regions. Retail pharmacists were not interviewed, so community pharmacist perspectives may be underrepresented. Clinicians were mostly non-Hispanic White, so their views may not reflect all racial and ethnic groups. The study described perceptions and barriers; it did not test a deprescribing intervention or measure medication, function, fall, or hospitalization outcomes.
Declared interests
The article text reports no conflicts of interest. The supplied publication types indicate NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that home health nurse medication review improves deprescribing or patient outcomes. The study reported stakeholder perceptions and process barriers, not a tested intervention or clinical result.