Integrating patient education on deprescribing into care delivery: Learnings from the Optimize pragmatic trial.
Elizabeth A Bayliss, Kathy S Gleason, Orla C Sheehan and 12 others
PMID 41125005WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults and care partners accepted deprescribing education, but brochures given at the start of visits were seldom remembered.
Only 5 of 160 contacted recalled receiving one. Some preferred mail, portal, or pharmacy delivery.
Key findings
01Patients and care partners considered deprescribing education acceptable, especially those with high medication burden or side effects.
02Brochures provided at the start of visits were seldom remembered: 5 of 160 contacted patients or care partners recalled receiving one.
03Patients and care partners preferred varied delivery modes, with some wanting materials before visits by mail or email and others suggesting portal or pharmacy shipments.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The evaluation included 17 interviews for the original intervention and 11 interviews for the delayed control intervention, so it was small. No demographic survey was done, so ages, race, and ethnicity of interviewees were not collected. The delayed control finding relies on memory: only 5 of 160 contacted patients or care partners remembered receiving the brochure, not a confirmed count of brochures handed out. The study took place in one integrated health system, and the two arms used different delivery methods and ran at different times, so transferability is uncertain. The paper reports acceptability and delivery preferences, not medication reduction or adverse event outcomes.
Declared interests
One author reported compensation for writing a chapter on multiple chronic conditions for Up To Date. None of the other authors reported potential conflicts. No funder is named in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that deprescribing education reduces medications or adverse events. The paper reports interviews about acceptability and delivery, not medication outcomes or safety results.