Evidence of Learning Assessment #4

Maleeha Khan

Date: ​February 28, 2020

Subject: ​Medication Mismanagement

Sources:

“Issue Brief 5 Prescription Med Misuse Abuse.pdf.” ​Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Services Administration (SAMHSA),​ 2012,

https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/programs/2016-11/Issue%20Brief%205%20Prescription

%20Med%20Misuse%20Abuse.pdf. Accessed 27 Feb. 2020.

Analysis:

To promote the safety of dementia patients, my original work focuses on methods to

reduce the risks of patients obtaining life threatening injuries by falling and medication

mismanagement. A majority of my research on this topic to this point has been focused on

controlling patient falls. Considering this, I used this assessment as a learning opportunity to

expand my understanding of the many factors related to medication mismanagement. The

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the

Administration on Aging (AoA) created a guide outlining prescription medication misuse and

abuse, which is a growing public health problem among older adults, affecting an estimated 2.7

million people.

Annotating this guide provided me with several unique insights into medication

mismanagement in the elderly that benefited my research into this area of study. Initially when

studying dementia patients and medication, I assumed most problems occured simply because
the patients forgot to take their medication, accidently overdosed on it, or refused to take it

altogether. However, this article brought the growing issue that older patients intentionally abuse

their medications. While I am confident that this is not a common problem among dementia

patients specifically, reading this introduced me to a new perspective of medication

mismanagement. I will further research this matter to determine the prevalence of dementia

patients and medication abuse.

The part of the guide that I found to be the most beneficial was the section reviewing,

‘definitions of proper use, misuse, abuse, and dependence,’. Throughout the process of creating

my original work, I have struggled to properly define the aspect of my original work focusing on

dementia patients and their medication. While I was initially inclined to define this as medication

nonadherence (the intentional or unintentional process of patients failing to take their

medications), I realized that this does not cover the patients that accidentally overdose on their

medication. Considering these many factors, I decided to call this portion of my original work

‘medication mismanagement’. That is why I was pleased to see this term used in the guide to

define this phenomenon. In terms of my actual research, I have found it difficult to determine

exact side effects of medication mismanagement to share with patients and caretakers, as the

impact of this error depends on the case.

This guide also highlighted key actions for various groups to take to prevent medication

mismanagement. For example, the author advised caregivers to carefully read all labels and

instructions of medications and to inform doctors of all medications and if they may not be

working. However, these were not the preventative measures I was hoping to include in my final

product. While I acknowledge that these are helpful recommendations, I am hoping to include
daily routines, affordable renovations, and cost effective innovations to combat medication

mismanagement in my research guide.

This guide created by SAMHSA and AoA is a valuable resource for researching the

safety of dementia patients and managing their medication. This guide provided me with unique

insights into medication abuse and mismanagement. I will continue to use it and plan to further

study the resources and works cited attached to this document to strengthen my understanding.

Beginning this aspect of my original work fills me with excitement about the potential impact of

my final product as I am slowly making progress towards its completion. The notion that I can

potentially improve the quality of life of dementia patients through my work motivates me to

persevere and create a useful research guide.