During the
49th General Assembly, the members of the European
Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) updated the
Association’s position
paper on an ageing society. With this revision, hospital
pharmacists acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead of the
profession due to the changing healthcare requirements of the
ageing population.
The
overarching goal of the hospital pharmacy service, as outlined in
the European
Statements of Hospital Pharmacy, is to optimise patient
outcomes through working collaboratively within multidisciplinary
teams. EAHP’s position paper on an ageing society consequently
touches upon areas in which hospital pharmacy interventions can
make a difference for older patients. Medicines reconciliation and
the transfer of care are mentioned as main sectors in which further
investment is needed to improve outcomes for older patients.
Optimising drug therapy by evaluating drug appropriateness and
increasing drug adherence is one element that has been addressed by
EAHP in its position paper since hospital pharmacists can make very
positive contributions in this field. In addition, the Association
underlines the need for heightened collaboration between different
healthcare professionals, especially when transferring older
patients between primary and secondary care environments.
The ageing
workforce is also discussed by the EAHP’s position paper, in
particular the need to respond to the demographic shift through
adequate workforce planning. Likewise, education and training play
an important role when dealing with both older patients and an
ageing workforce. In view of these and other challenges linked to
the ageing society, EAHP and its members
- call
on national governments and health system managers to
acknowledge hospital pharmacists’ drug expertise by investing
in medication reconciliation and optimisation roles in all
healthcare facilities, including nursing homes, as a key part
of the European level response to the increasing prevalence of
polypharmacy
- call
for strengthened inter-sector communication, coordination and
multi-disciplinary collaboration as critical approaches to
meeting the health system challenges of an ageing society
- strongly
support regulatory innovation to increase the participation of
older patients with possible multi-morbidities in clinical
trials
- urge
both governments and the EU to address the growing challenge
of an ageing health workforce by investing in education,
mobility and best practice sharing.
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