Be Prepared -
Questions to ask your Health Care Team:
Write down questions like these to bring to your next appointment. Be sure to leave room for the answer.
1. What is causing my pain?
2. What can be done to make it better?
3. What can I do to help manage my pain?
4. What is my treatment plan?
5. What are the goals for my treatment plan?
Please tell me about the medications you prescribed for me:
1. What are the medications for and when do I take them?
2. What effects should I expect?
3. What should I do if I have side effects?
4. Are there any risks associated with these medications?
5. What if the medicine does not help?
6. How should I store and dispose of unused medicine?
7. How long will I be taking this medication?
7. Are there alternatives to taking medicine?
8. What are the potential complications to those alternatives?
9. When will we evaluate the effectiveness of my treatment plan?
Health care providers know a lot about a lot of things, but they don’t always know everything about you or what is best for You. Your questions give your health care provider and health care team important information about you, such as your most important health care concerns.
Opioids are a class of medicines taken to help reduce pain. They work on the central nervous system to slow down nerve signals between the brain and the body. This can reduce feelings of pain, but opioids may also produce unwanted effects, ranging from constipation to dangerous slowing down of a person’s breathing.
The video aims to help people make an informed decision in partnership with their doctor about whether to start taking an opioid medicine for chronic (ongoing) non-cancer pain.
Consumer resourcesNPS MedicineWise Opioid medicines and chronic non-cancer pain
NPS MedicineWise Chronic pain explained
NPS MedicineWise Pain: What is going on?
NPS MedicineWise Medicines for pain relief: what are the options
· Patient Resource – Opioids information videoPatient Resource– Opioid prescribing changes: improving safety, reducing harm - for patients
More medicines, less health
http://www.agedcareinsite.com.au/2016/02/more-medicine-less-health/
By: Dallas Bastian in Clinical Focus, February 2, 2016
Taking multiple medicines may put older Australians at risk of frailty and death, new research has found.
The study, led by Monash University in collaboration with the University of Sydney, found that increases in the Drug Burden Index, which measures exposure to sedatives and anticholinergic medications, were associated with transitions from a robust state to various stages of frailty and a greater risk of mortality.
The research team also found that each additional medication was associated with a 22 per cent greater risk of transitioning from a robust state to death.
Study co-author associate professor Simon Bell, from Monash’s Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, said the findings highlighted the importance of weighing up the risks and benefits of taking multiple medications. “Unlike many other factors that can play a role in frailty, medication use is potentially modifiable,” he said.
Bell added frailty could lead to a “spiral of decline” if the causes remained unaddressed. “The development of frailty puts people at greater risk of additional health problems and worsening disability. This decline can lead to additional medications being prescribed, which perpetuates the spiral,” he explained.
Questions to ask your Health Care Team:
Write down questions like these to bring to your next appointment. Be sure to leave room for the answer.
1. What is causing my pain?
2. What can be done to make it better?
3. What can I do to help manage my pain?
4. What is my treatment plan?
5. What are the goals for my treatment plan?
Please tell me about the medications you prescribed for me:
1. What are the medications for and when do I take them?
2. What effects should I expect?
3. What should I do if I have side effects?
4. Are there any risks associated with these medications?
5. What if the medicine does not help?
6. How should I store and dispose of unused medicine?
7. How long will I be taking this medication?
7. Are there alternatives to taking medicine?
8. What are the potential complications to those alternatives?
9. When will we evaluate the effectiveness of my treatment plan?
Health care providers know a lot about a lot of things, but they don’t always know everything about you or what is best for You. Your questions give your health care provider and health care team important information about you, such as your most important health care concerns.
Opioids are a class of medicines taken to help reduce pain. They work on the central nervous system to slow down nerve signals between the brain and the body. This can reduce feelings of pain, but opioids may also produce unwanted effects, ranging from constipation to dangerous slowing down of a person’s breathing.
The video aims to help people make an informed decision in partnership with their doctor about whether to start taking an opioid medicine for chronic (ongoing) non-cancer pain.
Consumer resourcesNPS MedicineWise Opioid medicines and chronic non-cancer pain
NPS MedicineWise Chronic pain explained
NPS MedicineWise Pain: What is going on?
NPS MedicineWise Medicines for pain relief: what are the options
· Patient Resource – Opioids information videoPatient Resource– Opioid prescribing changes: improving safety, reducing harm - for patients
More medicines, less health
http://www.agedcareinsite.com.au/2016/02/more-medicine-less-health/
By: Dallas Bastian in Clinical Focus, February 2, 2016
Taking multiple medicines may put older Australians at risk of frailty and death, new research has found.
The study, led by Monash University in collaboration with the University of Sydney, found that increases in the Drug Burden Index, which measures exposure to sedatives and anticholinergic medications, were associated with transitions from a robust state to various stages of frailty and a greater risk of mortality.
The research team also found that each additional medication was associated with a 22 per cent greater risk of transitioning from a robust state to death.
Study co-author associate professor Simon Bell, from Monash’s Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, said the findings highlighted the importance of weighing up the risks and benefits of taking multiple medications. “Unlike many other factors that can play a role in frailty, medication use is potentially modifiable,” he said.
Bell added frailty could lead to a “spiral of decline” if the causes remained unaddressed. “The development of frailty puts people at greater risk of additional health problems and worsening disability. This decline can lead to additional medications being prescribed, which perpetuates the spiral,” he explained.