Theoretical Underpinnings of a Model to Reduce Polypharmacy and Its Negative Health Effects: Introducing the Team Approach to Polypharmacy Evaluation and Reduction (TAPER)

Background Polypharmacy, particularly among older adults, is gaining recognition as an important risk to health. The harmful effects on health arise from disease–drug and drug–drug interactions, the cumulative burden of side effects from multiple medications and the burden to the patient. Single-disease clinical guidelines fail to consider the complex reality of optimising treatments for patients with multiple morbidities and medications. Efforts have been made to develop and implement interventions to reduce the risk of harmful effects, with some promising results. However, the theoretical basis (or pre-clinical work) that informed the development of these efforts, although likely undertaken, is unclear, difficult to find or inadequately described in publications. It is critical in interpreting effects and achieving effectiveness to understand the theoretical basis for such interventions. Objective Our objective is to outline the theoretical underpinnings of the development of a new polypharmacy intervention: the Team Approach to Polypharmacy Evaluation and Reduction (TAPER). Methods We examined deprescribing barriers at patient, provider, and system levels and mapped them to the chronic care model to understand the behavioural change requirements for a model to address polypharmacy. Results Using the chronic care model framework for understanding the barriers, we developed a model for addressing polypharmacy. Conclusions We discuss how TAPER maps to address the specific patient-level, provider-level, and system-level barriers to deprescribing and aligns with three commonly used models and frameworks in medicine (the chronic care model, minimally disruptive medicine, the cumulative complexity model). We also describe how TAPER maps onto primary care principles, ultimately providing a description of the development of TAPER and a conceptualisation of the potential mechanisms by which TAPER reduces polypharmacy and its associated harms.