Highlights from the panel debate on the elderly and medicines at eHälsa23
For those of you who missed the panel at #eHälsa23 at Kistamässan 25-26 January 2023 about the elderly and medicines, here are some highlights:
"This is a much bigger problem than we might spontaneously think; there is an incredible overmedication of the elderly. Here we need to work much more at the system level to solve the problem."
Dag Salaj, Senior Geriatrics Physician, Region Örebro County
"Today, there are different pieces of the puzzle that don't fit together. The doctor prescribes the nurse, makes sure the medicine is at home, and then delegates it to the nursing staff who give the pills. At the same time, it is not the prescriber who talks to the patient. Often it is the doctor and the nurse who discuss the medication, while the nursing staff who see the resident all the time are not part of the conversation."
Cecilia Lundberg, MAS Örebro
"Disrespectful when the elderly person's description of his situation and symptoms is shared by others in residence. Much better in a face-to-face meeting at a health center."
Ann Ubbe, SPF Seniors Saltsjöbaden
"Digitization is going too slowly in healthcare. It is important to cooperate so that walls are not built between the activities, in order to be able to see the overall picture of the patient."
Anders Segerström, CEO iZafe
Why it's so easy to add a drug, but so hard to remove:
"If you, as a doctor, have not inserted the medicine yourself, but it has been done by a teaching colleague who is a specialist in another field, you may feel that you are not sufficiently familiar with the assessments that were made during the insertion."
"Taking away a medication can feel like the patient is being deprived of treatment, and the doctor can feel the same way."
"More information would be needed on how to think as a doctor when changing a medicine."
Johan Fastbom, Professor of Geriatric Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet
