Lunch-and-Learn: Prescribing for Older Adults
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
CME credits available
http://med.unc.edu/aging/documents/prescribing_Oct_10_07.pptLunch-and-Learn sessions are hour long presentations and question and answer sessions over lunch that use basic technology to equip community physicians with information in specific geriatric topic areas. Topics were selected based on an informal survey of non-geriatric community physicians on the areas in which they needed more training. Physicians participate in the lunch meeting with a UNC geriatrics faculty member and then gain access to online follow-up information, resources and modules to review the material presented.
- Raise awareness of the extent and seriousness of ADEs in older adults
- Critically assess your own prescribing practices for older adults
- Individualize dosing and adherence strategies for an older adult -Share these teaching points with your patients and students
At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
- Identify risk factors for Adverse Drug Events (ADEs)
- Utilize strategies for shortening medication lists and enhancing adherence
- Identify and discontinue potentially harmful medications
- Recognize ADEs when new symptoms are reported by older adults
This was completed with 20 community physicians and physician assistants in community practice conference rooms. The presentation includes extensive speaker's notes.
At this time, 1 CME credit is awarded only for in-person, on-site administration of this module.
The Prescribing Lunch and Learn is an online module developed for use by community physicians to help them avoid adverse drug events in elderly patients and improve adherence with prescribed regimens. The module addresses which drugs to prescribe, which to avoid, when polypharmacy is an issue for older patients and how to decide which drugs and dosages to keep and which to lower or discontinue.