Too much of a good thing? Continuing and deprescribing medications for older people.

Older people frequently consume multiple medications to manage one or more chronic conditions. Medications offer great potential benefits yet carry significant risk for older people with multiple morbidities. Interest is growing in interventions to reverse the trend of increasing number of medications. Deprescribing is one such intervention. This thesis investigates medication use for older people, and in particular those with dementia, to consider when these medications should be continue• and when they should be deprescribed. lt explored three broad areas: compiled evidence about deprescribing; examined the deprescribing decision-making process; explored appropriate medication management for comorbidities in people with dementia.