‘We’re increasingly seeing incidents where alert fatigue has been identified as a contributing factor. It’s not that there wasn’t an alert in place, but that it was lost among the other alerts the clinician saw,’ Prof Baysari says.
Nicola Sander MPS, a dementia support pharmacist in regional South Australia, will share her experience at PSA25 in August.
Can you tell us about your current pharmacy role?
I work 3 days a week with PSA as a dementia support pharmacist in a program funded by Country SA Primary Health Network. It’s designed to provide support to people living with dementia in regional South Australia. The aim of this role is to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia, with a particular focus on reducing medicine-related harm and optimising medications, providing advice on symptom management including changed behaviours, reducing the risk of falls, and providing advice for end-of-life care.
Through this role, I have had the opportunity to travel to many of the beautiful regional towns in our state and have met some amazing individuals along the way. I also work with a provider of Residential Medication Management Reviews and Quality Use of Medicines services to residential care 2 days a week, as well as providing Home Medicines Reviews and diabetes education sessions when I can fit them in.
What’s the most rewarding aspect?
Having enough time to get to know the people living with dementia and their families to enable my recommendations to be person-centred and goal-driven. I also love the opportunity to have more involvement in deprescribing and in developing a structured and coordinated deprescribing plan.
I was recently asked to attend a telehealth consultation with a GP, a person living with dementia and her daughter to discuss my recommendations and implement the deprescribing plan.
In your varied career, what have you learned along the way?
The most important lesson I have learned is to put the person I am talking to at the front and centre of every recommendation I make. Social prescribing is also a new concept that I have embraced in my role as a dementia support pharmacist, where medicines are not always appropriate.
What will you be telling delegates at PSA25?
Fellow dementia support pharmacist Dee-Anne Hull MPS and I will be explaining what the different types of dementia are and their impact on cognitive function and daily living.
We will also discuss the medicines that may worsen cognition and increase the risk of falls for people living with dementia, and demonstrate the use of different tools to assess medication burden.
What’s your advice for pharmacists wanting to work in dementia support?
Never forget that although someone may have cognitive impairment, they may still have the ability to be involved in conversations about their care – and should be included in these conversations whenever possible. It is also important to get to know the person living with dementia – whether with the person themselves or through their family. Their life story may assist in understanding why they may be exhibiting certain changed behaviours and inform the development of strategies that may help with these.
What would you tell your younger ECP self?
Don’t be afraid to explore different career options within the pharmacy industry as there are some exciting paths to pursue now.
