As active ‘third-agers’, we thought you might be interested to hear about an academic research project – in the form of a survey – devised by the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care (part of Oxford University), which is of particular relevance to our generation, because it’s us older people who rely most of all on regular prescription medication.
Specifically, it’s looking at the issue of polypharmacy, which is the posh term for when patients are taking many different prescribed medications, sometimes for several different conditions, and often without sufficiently thorough consideration of whether or not the combination is optimal. It’s costly for the NHS, and not always in the best interests of the patient – sometimes it can even be harmful – which is why healthcare professionals are increasing being encouraged to review and, if possible, cut back on so-called ‘unnecessary’ prescriptions.
However, stopping (‘de-prescribing’) any medication is not something that can be undertaken lightly, or without the patient’s consent. And that’s what this survey of over-65’s (and those close to them), conducted online and by post earlier this year, was all about. For more information, there’s a short video about the project on the Nuffield/Oxford website:
medication — Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
We in u3a Communities got to hear about it back in the spring of 2023, and agreed to help out by publicising it to our members, via our meetings and in mailouts. Recruitment to the project is now closed, and the data is being analysed, with the first results expected early in 2024. But we have already been contacted by the lead investigator, thanking us for helping to boost their numbers significantly, so if you did take part, please accept our thanks too. We will let you know the outcome when available, so watch this space.