Communication and Medication-Related Deprescribing for Healthcare Professionals: A Rapid Review of the Literature.
Beheshta Momand, Winnie Sun, Jennifer Abbass-Dick and 2 others
PMID 41960831WHAT IT FOUND
Existing deprescribing tools for older adults rarely give nurses explicit communication guidance.
Five strategies were found embedded in frameworks: encouraging participation, active listening, feedback, adapting communication, and shared decision making.
Key findings
01Most deprescribing frameworks and tools exclude nurses from their development, despite nurses spending more time with older adults than physicians.
02Communication strategies are present in deprescribing resources but are often implicit rather than clearly outlined for clinicians.
03Five core communication strategies were extracted: encouraging patient participation, active listening, feedback, communication adaptation, and shared decision-making.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a rapid review, meaning some systematic review components were simplified or omitted to save time. The search was limited to English-language publications. The review did not assess the effectiveness of these frameworks on deprescribing outcomes (Objective 3 was reported separately). Communication strategies were often not explicitly stated in the original tools, requiring the reviewers to infer them from the text.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these communication strategies have been proven to improve patient outcomes. This review describes what is currently in the tools and what nurses should do, but it did not test whether using these strategies actually leads to safer or more effective deprescribing.