Geriatric Medication Safety Symposium

ABSTRACT
Medication-related morbidity and mortality are a significant health concern in older adults, who are highly
susceptible to medication-related problems. Safe medication use practices require coordinated efforts by
providers and patients in the medication use process. Medication-related problems in older adults range from
prescribing of high-risk medications to misuse of prescribed medications by older adults. Reducing medication
errors and improving medication safety are major national priorities. Therefore, our objective is to host the
Geriatric Medication Safety Symposium in the largest medical complex in the world, the Texas Medical Center
(TMC), annually to disseminate and implement the evidence-based approaches for medication safety in older
adults to improve the quality of geriatric care. The University of Houston College of Pharmacy in collaboration
with the University of Texas McGovern Medical School organized the Houston Medication Safety Symposium
for the past three years focusing on various aspects of medication safety issues such high-risk medications,
prescribing cascades, and deprescribing with presentations from nationally recognized experts. An average of
151 diverse health professions participated in the symposium each year to enrich their practice and research on
medication safety. In addition, the symposium included research podiums and posters that were published in a
peer-reviewed journal. We are requesting five years of funding to host the Geriatric Medication Safety
Symposium to continue our successful efforts to disseminate critical medication safety issues with respect to
practice, research, and policy. This annual symposium will: (i) Provide an excellent interprofessional educational
forum for practitioners and researchers to discuss evidence-based medication safety approaches in older adults;
(ii) Increase collaborations for best practices in patient care and medication safety research; and (iii) Disseminate
the knowledge and findings from the symposium nationally through webinars and publications. The proposal
includes monthly planning committee meetings from representatives of selected TMC institutions to plan and
organize the two-day symposium in the TMC, with a reach of over 20,000 healthcare professionals. The
symposium includes four plenary sessions, podium and poster sessions, and practice/research workshops, with
web-based content delivery and integration of virtual content over five years to allow for greater reach. The
areas of focus for the upcoming symposiums include off-label drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic, drug
burden, safer opioid use, adverse drug events, significant drug interactions, drug safety during transitions of
care, and medication safety in inpatient care. The target audience includes physicians, nurses, pharmacists,
students, residents, fellows, researchers, and others. Educational and media tools will be created in addition to
publishing the proceedings in the Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy journal. Overall, the Geriatric
Medication Safety Symposium will provide a unique interprofessional educational and research forum for
practitioners and researchers to make medication practices safer for older adults in the TMC and beyond.

Grant Number: 5R13AG071364-04
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Rajender Aparasu