On Thursday 16 May 2024, A.E.M.J.H. Linkens will defend the doctoral thesis titled: ‘Enhancing Care and Follow-up for Older Individuals: Shifting towards medication optimization? ‘.
- Promotor
- Co-promotor
- Co-promotor
- Co-promotor
- Date
- Thursday 16 May 2024, 13:00 - 14:30
- Type
- PhD defence
- Space
- Senate Hall
- Building
- Erasmus Building
- Location
- Campus Woudestein
- More information
The public defence will begin exactly at 13.00 hrs. The doors will be closed once the public defence starts, latecomers may be able to watch on the screen outside. There is no possibility of entrance during the first part of the ceremony. Due to the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.
Brief summary of the doctoral thesis:
The aim of this thesis was to address critical knowledge gaps within real-life contexts, offering initiatives to enhance in-hospital management and optimize medication strategies for older, frail individuals.
We investigated the implementation of a Nurse Practitioner-led Orthogeriatric Care Program (NPOCP), which is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach of care for the orthogeriatric population. We have shown that NPOCP exhibited a statistically significant reduction in both 3-month and 1- year mortality rates compared to usual care.
Polypharmacy and the use of high-risk medication are both risk factors for medication-related (re)admissions. To prevent medication-related (re)admissions, extensive research is being conducted into the utilization of medication reviews, both manually and with the support of a CDSS (Clinical Decision Support System).
The CHECkUP (Control in the Hospital by Extensive Clinical rules for Unplanned hospitalizations in older Patients) is a study which aims to decrease readmission within one year through a weekly medication review utilizing a CDSS patients aged 60 years or older, with polypharmacy and using high-risk medication were included. Of the initial 100 inclusions, 48% experienced a medication-related admission upon inclusion. This percentage is higher than the average, suggesting that we are selecting patients with a high risk of medication-related admission.
To enhance the performance of a CDSS, we also investigated the impact of pharmacist involvement and time within daily practice. Both factors were found to have a positive effect on resolving medication problems.
