Medication Brochures & Resources

These brochures were designed and published by the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging. If you have questions about their content, please contact lamycenter@rx.umaryland.edu.

• Alcohol: Friend or Foe?
• Did You Remember to Ask: The Consumer's Quick Reference for Using Medicines‌
• Eye Medicines: May Be More than Meets the Eye
• How to Select Your Pharmacy and Pharmacist‌
• Medicines and Travel
• OTCs: Over-the-Counter Medicines
• The Caregiver's Guide to Using Medicines‌
• Vitamins Are Not Enough: A Nutritional and Vitamin Guide for Older Adults

These brochures were designed and published by the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging. If you have questions about their content, please contact lamycenter@rx.umaryland.edu.

• Falls Prevention and Your Older Patients
• Medicines and Fall Risk
• Preventing Falls

The following helpful guides provide quick facts about the condition indicated, as well as steps that caregivers and family members can take to ensure that the older adults in their lives are using medications related to those conditions safely and effectively.

• Cholesterol‌
• Depression‌
• Heart Failure‌
• High Blood Pressure‌
• Osteoporosis‌

Download Safe Medicine Use: A Guide for Older Adults and Caregivers‌ for tips to help ensure that you are safely using your prescription and over-the-counter medications.

COVID-19: What Older Adults and Caregivers Need to Know
Developed in collaboration with the Maryland Poison Center (MPC), this information sheet provides important facts about COVID-19 for older adults and their caregivers, including symptoms and where to seek care.

COVID-19 Vax Facts for Older Adults and Caregivers
Developed in collaboration with the Lamy Champions Coalition, this downloadable fact sheet answers frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccines, including who should get vaccinated, potential side effects associated with vaccines, and what to expect when visiting a health care facility to get vaccinated.

Beers Criteria: The Beers Criteria is a list of medications that has been updated through the years to assist practitioners, researchers, and policymakers with evaluating potentially inappropriate medications in older adults. It discusses high-risk medications, drug-disease interactions, as well as doses that should not be exceeded. Also available is American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria Resources.

Merck Manual of Geriatrics: The Merck Manual offers an introduction to geriatric medicine. It includes information about safe drug use and prevention of diseases and disability in elderly people. It also gives a perspective on funding of health care and social issues in the elderly.

Renal function (Creatinine Clearance) Calculator: In order to ensure a safe use of medicines that are excreted through the kidney, the kidney function needs to be estimated. This is a tool to help prescribers calculate renal function.

WIHI: The How and Why of Deprescribing: Hosted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, this podcast details the experience of health care professionals who have worked with the institute to implement deprescribing initiatives at their organizations.

EthnoMed: This resource was developed by the University of Washington and "contains information about cultural beliefs, medical issues, and related topics pertinent to the health care of immigrants." The clinical topics and patient education sections are conveniently categorized by both topic and culture/language. There is also a compilation of resources on cross-cultural health.

FDA on Disposal of Unused Medicines: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) presents an updated overview on the proper disposal of medications, including drug take-back programs and disposing of medications at home. There is also a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section and a list of medicines recommended for disposal by flushing. They also have an internet resource on medication disposal for consumers.

The following reference tools can be used to check drug-drug interactions. Enter the patient's medicines and the tool will notify you if any relevant drug-drug interactions are identified.

• Multi-Drug Interaction Checker - Medscape Reference
• Drug Interactions Checker - Drugs.com

Resources for Providers:

• 2010 AGS/BGS Clinical Practice Guideline: Prevention of Falls in Older Persons
• American Geriatrics Society 2019 Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults
• American Society of Consultant Pharmacists
• Baltimore Fall Reduction Initiative Engaging Neighborhoods and Data (BFRIEND)
• Billing for MTM Services
• Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP)
• Deprescribing
• Medication Fall Risk Score and Evaluation Tools (AHRQ)
• OutcomesMTM
• The Portal of Geriatrics Online Education
• STEADI: The Pharmacist’s Role in Older Adult Fall Prevention

Resources for Patients:

• AgePage: Falls and Fractures
• AgePage: Medicines -- Use Them Safely
• Falls Prevention for Older Adults Resource List
• Fall Proofing Your Home
• Stay Independent

AHRQ Health Literacy Tools: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published two tools that can be used to assess health literacy. These tools include the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Short Form (REALM-SF) and the Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Spanish Adults (SAHLSA-50).

CDC Health Literacy for Older Adults: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created a resource specific to older adults and health literacy issues. This section provides resources on "Guidance and Standards" for generating materials that will match the health literacy of the aging population. Examples include, but are not limited to, communication guidelines, web communication guidance, and health education tools.

Reducing Adverse Drug Events in the Elderly: The Delmarva Foundation provides a wide range of resources to illustrate the ways in which pharmacists can help reduce adverse drug events among older adults, including anticoagulation management, pain management, and other resources and educational sites.

A Systems Approach to Quality Improvement in Long-Term Care: Safe Medication Practices Workbook: The Safe Medication Practices Workbook outlines a medication management system in long-term care. It contains 15 sections, each highlighting a specific process within the system. Under each section is an explanation along with tools, reminders, and resources for that section. The sections include the areas of prescribing, dispensing, monitoring, educating residents and families, and much more. This workbook was developed by the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, Masspro, the Health Care Quality Improvement Organization for Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Extended Care Federation.

Script Your Future Adherence Tools: The Script Your Future website features many resources to help patients adhere to medication regimens and treatments. Many of the tools may be disease state specific, including asthma and diabetes. The resource also includes a link to journal articles relating to medication adherence for health care professionals.

RxList Pill Identification Tool: This resource allows you to identify unknown pills; for example, when the original packing is missing. Enter the imprint, color, and/or shape of the pill and the system will present images of pills according to the description. Review the images in order to identify the unknown medication.

• Anatomy Reference
• Diseases and Conditions References
  • Diseases & Conditions Medscape Reference (Browse by speciality)
  • Diseases, Conditions and Tests (Browse by term)
• Drug Medical Dictionary
• Laboratory Tests References
  • Martindale's Reference Desk - Laboratory Tests, Diagnostics & Protocols Center
  • Blood Test Results - Normal Ranges
  • Normal Lab Values
• Prescription Drugs, OTC Drugs and Herbal Remedies References
  • Drugs, OTCs and Herbals Medscape Reference (Browse by therapeutic group)
  • Drugs A-Z List - (Browse by name)
  • Vitamins, Herbs, and Dietary Supplements (Browse by name)
• Procedures Reference

At Any Age, It Does Matter: Substance Abuse and Older Adults (for Professionals): This modular course for health professionals working with older adult addresses the issue of substance misuse and abuse. The learning modules include recognizing alcohol/substance misuse and abuse, diagnosing substance problems in older adults, prevention and early intervention, treatment, and legal and ethical issues.

• Tools to Assess Self-Administration of Medication
• Assessing Anticholinergic Burden

Improving Medication Safety During Hospital-based Transitions of Care
Abstract: Medication errors are common during transitions of care such as hospital admission and discharge. Problems range from minor discrepancies to actual patient harm. A systematic routine for medication reconciliation can minimize errors, thereby preventing adverse drug events and improving patient safety.

Medication Safety in Transitions of Care
This technical report was published by the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of its Medication Without Harm Global Patient Safety Challenge.