Caregiver‐Based Interventions to Optimize Medication Safety in Vulnerable Elderly Adults: A Systematic Evidence‐Based Review

Objectives To study the effect of caregiver‐focused interventions to support medication safety in older adults with chronic disease. Design Systematic review. Setting Studies published before January 31, 2017, searched using Ovid Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Participants Caregivers with or without a care recipient. Measurements Inclusion criteria: interventions focused on caregivers aiming to improve medication safety. Studies not focusing on older adults, not evaluating medication safety, failing to include caregivers, or without a comparison group were excluded. Results The initial search revealed 1,311 titles. Eight studies met inclusion criteria. The strategies used in randomized trials were a home‐based medication review and adherence assessment by a clinical pharmacist (2 home visits 6–8 weeks apart, with pharmacist and physician meeting independently) that found no difference in nonelective hospital admissions (p=.8) but fewer medications (p=.03); a 19‐minute educational DVD and an hour‐long medication education and training that improved caregiver satisfaction (p