CPF FUNDED GRANT DETAILS

Home-bound older adults living with dementia are often unable to access health and wellness services and have high levels of medication non-adherence and medication errors. Community pharmacists can act as key educators on medication management for people living with dementia and their family caregivers; however, pharmacists have traditionally not been added to home health teams. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop a sustainable partnership model for integration of community pharmacists into home health dementia care teams that provides a platform for practice transformation and promotes community pharmacists as dementia home care team members. This will be accomplished using a participatory mixed methods study design with two specific aims: 1) to investigate community pharmacist and home health provider knowledge, attitudes, and recommended strategies for pharmacist-delivered medication management services for home-bound older adults living with dementia, using semi-structured interviews; and 2) to create a Medication Education for Dementia Support (MEDS) practice manual to facilitate consultation requests between home health dementia care teams and local community pharmacists. The MEDS practice manual will be created using a 3-round Delphi process with an advisory board of community pharmacists and home health providers. The manual will include: 1) a decision support tool to help home health agencies determine when a community pharmacist consultation is needed; 2) a communication aid to facilitate bi-directional communication between home health agencies and local community pharmacists; and 3) a MEDS action plan for pharmacists to carry out a dementia home care consultation. Study results are expected to provide the tangible MEDS practice manual, a model for developing sustainable pharmacy-home health partnerships that promote pharmacists as critical team members helping to ensure the safety of home-bound older adults living with dementia.