Prevent the negative side effects multiple medications can cause in aging adult patients.

  • Are you a healthcare worker serving patients over 65 who are taking multiple medications
  • Interested in understanding the unique factors affecting prescriptions for aging adults?
  • Do you want to prevent potentially dangerous effects from prescription drug interactions?

Often geriatric patients require multiple medications to treat the symptoms of degenerative disease and aging. With age comes a variety of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes that can increase the likelihood of suffering from drug side effects, especially when over 4 medications are involved.

Understand the critical elements of polypharmacy as it relates to older adults. 1 out of every 6 adults over the age of 65 will suffer at least one harmful reaction to prescription medication. Don’t let your patients become one.

What to Expect

This is a 2-day course, totaling 8 hours of classroom education, which will give you a fundamental understanding of how polypharmacy affects the elderly.

Approved by the Oregon Board of Pharmacy for 8 contact hours towards CEU credit.

You will learn to:

  • Understand how multiple prescriptions can interact and affect the aging adult
  • Analyze medication lists for potentially inappropriate prescriptions
    • Including: Opioids, Benzodiazepines, antimicrobials, antipsychotics, anticholinergics
  • Avoid misdiagnosis of symptoms that results in prescribing cascade and contributes to polypharmacy
  • Decrease the risk of antimicrobial resistance in patients by using best practices
  • Identify when complementary or alternative therapies may be beneficial

Is Geriatric Polypharmacy for me?

This class is suited for you if:

  • You work as a healthcare physician
  • Aging adults are under your care
  • You prescribe medications to the geriatric population

The Investment

Time:  This is an 8-hour course, offered on 2 days over 2 weeks.

Tuition:  $159

Meet your Lead Instructors

Co-taught by Courtney Kraus and Danielle Backus. Courtney Kraus has a Pharmacy degree and is the Coordinator for Experiential Advancement/Assistant Professor at Pacific University. Danielle Backus, Assistant Professor at Pacific University, graduated from Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, then completed programs in PGY-1 through and PGY-2 in Geriatrics and Academia.

Upcoming Courses

Contact Amy Evans for more information. 

Questions?

For more information, please email Amy Evans at amy.evans3@pcc.edu or call 971-722-6672.