Evidence and practice

Supporting shared decision-making in medicines use with people living with dementia and their carers

Lynn Chenoweth Professor of nursing, School of Clinical Medicine, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, University of New South Wales, Kennington, NSW, Australia

Why you should read this article:

• To understand some of the issues related to polypharmacy and inappropriate prescribing in people living with dementia
• To recognise the importance of shared decision-making about medicines use in people living with dementia
• To learn about various decision aids that you could use in your practice to support shared decision-making

Polypharmacy and inappropriate prescribing of psychotropic medicines are common among people living with dementia and pose considerable health risks. One way of addressing these issues is by involving the person and their carer in shared decision-making. This article discusses some of the issues related to polypharmacy and inappropriate prescribing in people living with dementia and examines the concept of shared decision-making in this context. The author details some practical aids that nurses and other healthcare professionals can use to engage people living with dementia and their carers in shared decision-making about medicines use.

Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2024.e1458

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

l.chenoweth@unsw.edu.au

Conflict of interest

None declared

Chenoweth L (2024) Supporting shared decision-making in medicines use with people living with dementia and their carers. Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2024.e1458

Published online: 24 January 2024

Keywords :

clinical - decision aids - decision-making - dementia - medicines - neurology - polypharmacy - prescribing - professional - professional issues - psychotropics - shared decision-making

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30 September 2024 / Vol 36 issue 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DIGITAL EDITION