Dementia Care

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Vol 5 No 6 December 2016/January 2017 Australian Journal of Dementia Care 29
For over three years, the WA
Dementia Training Study Centre
(WADTSC) was hosted by the
School of Pharmacy at Curtin University.
Amajor focus of this final chapter of the
centre’s operation was to train health
professionals to optimise medication
management for people living with
dementia. During this time, WADTSC
developed a number of resources for
pharmacists and nurses that assisted
them to better understand and
implement current evidence within this
area of practice.
In Western Australia, the core WA
DTSC staff have now migrated to the
Western Australian Centre for Health
and Ageing, University of Western
Australia, to continue this work stream
for Dementia Training Australia (DTA).
This is an exciting opportunity for DTA
to build on the experience and resources
developed by WADTSC to further
promote the quality use of medicines for
people living with dementia.
Dementia-friendly pharmacy toolkit
A remarkably successful project
undertaken by WADTSC involved the
creation of a workshop for community
pharmacists. This ‘pharmacist
masterclass’ aimed to improve the ability
of these pharmacists to meet the needs of
people living with dementia and their
family carers, and was presented
throughout Australia in collaboration
with the Pharmaceutical Society of
Australia.
The high demand for the workshop
and feedback from participants
confirmed the need to develop
community pharmacies as supportive
businesses for people living with
dementia. Over the next three years, DTA
will develop the ‘pharmacist masterclass’
into a more comprehensive ‘dementia-
friendly pharmacy toolkit’ which will
further expand the role of community
pharmacies in dementia care.
Medication management consultancy
A suite of medication management
resources developed by the WADTSC
will be a cornerstone of a consultancy
service offered by DTA to eligible
residential aged care facilities (RACFs).
DTA staff will facilitate a process for
RACFs to evaluate and potentially
minimise their use of medications used
in supporting a person with dementia
who is demonstrating changed
behaviour.
The service will use a number of
existing resources, such as the WADTSC
‘quick reference cards’ (which provide
clinicians with a straightforward,
evidence-based guide to initiating,
monitoring and ceasing antipsychotic
medications), to ensure that these
medications are used only when
necessary and for the shortest possible
time.
The medication management
consultancy service will also direct RACF
staff to relevant training opportunities
that complement these resources, in
order to build capacity within facility
staff to more confidently manage
changed behaviour without the need to
resort to medications. The service is
expected to start in the first quarter of
2017, alongside a number of other DTA
consultancy services.
Online resource for pharmacists
One of the more novel medication
management resources developed by the
WADTSC aimed to improve the skills of
student pharmacists to review the
medications of people living with
dementia in RACFs. Through a
collaboration with Curtin University
Faculty Learning Engagement Team
(Health Sciences), WADTSC developed
simulations of key aspects of the
medication review process, which were
used in face-to-face workshops with
undergraduate student pharmacists.
DTAwill use these simulations to
develop a new online resource that will
be available to practicing pharmacists to
improve their skills in undertaking
medication reviews for people living
with dementia in RACFs. This resource
will be available via the website of our
collaborator, the Australian Association
of Consultant Pharmacy, in the next few
months.
New expertise and insight
The strong interest in WADTSC’s
medication management resources has
highlighted the need for DTA to continue
to deliver training in this area. The initial
suite of resources offered by DTAwill
build on the valuable work undertaken
by WADTSC, and the involvement of
consortium partners Alzheimer’s
Australia and the Wicking Dementia
Research and Education Centre brings
new expertise and insight into
optimising medication management for
people living with dementia.
Furthermore, the transition of the WA
DTSC to a new organisation provides
more opportunities, and as DTA becomes
more established, its portfolio of
medication management products and
services will expand to address both the
current and future needs of the dementia
care workforce.
For details on DTA medication
management resources and services, or
other DTA programs go to:
or
email
Optimising medication management
A medication management consultancy service is among a suite of DTA resources
that will be available to health professionals and RACFs, says Dr Andrew
Stafford, Director Dementia Training Australia, University of Western Australia
DTA's work includes promoting the quality
use of medicines for people living with
dementia
A suite of medication management
resources developed by the WA DTSC,
including these ‘quick reference cards’ for
clinicians, will be a cornerstone of the
medication management consultancy
service for RACFs