Description:
This module provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the provision of pharmaceutical care to older people and the wider social issues surrounding older people's care, with a particular focus on frailty, thereby enabling practitioners to demonstrate the principles of evidence-based practice in service provision. Students will learn how to
embed shared decision making with patients, family and carers, within their practice to ensure that patients are kept at the heart of discussions around medication. Students learn about the physiological changes that the older body undergoes to enable a deeper understanding of the shifting risk/benefit ratios of drug treatment in this population. This will enable students effectively make decisions around the rationalising and deprescribing of potentially inappropriate medicines, to avoid harm to this vulnerable population.

The aims of this module are to enable students to:

• Develop advanced knowledge and systematic understanding of the principles underpinning the provision of pharmaceutical and patient care for older people with particular focus on frailty.
• Demonstrate the clinical skills set relevant to assess, make rational clinical judgements, formulate a treatment plan or refer to other health service systems as appropriate.
• Develop advanced knowledge and systematic understanding of medicines optimisation principles to support patient care across the integrated care system is expected.

Learning outcomes are delivered through experiential learning in the workplace, independent learning, structured reading, problem-based learning and group discussion on study days.

Assessment Details:

Case study assessment (1500 words), 50% module weighting.ONE reflective patient care report demonstrating an integrated care systems approach, 50% module weighting.

All individual elements of assessment must be passed.

Learning Outcomes:

• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the clinical presentation of frailty, frailty assessment, evidence-based practice to support frail older people with a focus on key areas including dysphagia, anticholinergic burden, nutrition and awareness of system wide provision of health and social care related services for older people.
• Demonstrate an understanding of overprescribing, appropriate and inappropriate polypharmacy. Appreciate the harms of inappropriate polypharmacy and develop effective strategies to minimise patient harm from inappropriate polypharmacy.
• Demonstrate a deeper understanding of the applicability of single condition guidelines in multimorbid patients; assessing the shifting risk/benefit ratio of drug treatment in this population and develop strategies for medicines optimisation and rationalisation of potentially inappropriate polypharmacy, keeping the patient at the centre.
• Evaluate and make autonomous clinical patient care decisions in the management of common diseases in this population group, including the interpretation of patient data and awareness of disease presentations in this group.
• Demonstrate adaptability to relevant contexts to support holistic provision of care working with other service providers across the integrated care system.

Course Notes:

The course is facilitated by UH staff and external experts. 

Scheduled Teaching, online activities (General Teaching/Specialist Teaching): 10 hours

Scheduled Teaching, external learning activities (e.g. fieldwork, external visits, work-based learning): 100 hours

Directed Independent Study: 20 hours

Self-directed Independent Study: 20 hours