Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ Gets $1M to Prevent Medication-related Harm, Falls in Older Adults
(Photo by Alex Dolce)
Researchers from Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine have received a $1 million grant from the Florida Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association to launch a new initiative: the Geriatric Emergency Department Pharmacologic Harm Prevention Project (GREAT PHARM). This program seeks to reduce falls and other adverse drug events (ADEs) among older adults by using pharmacogenomic-guided prescribing, a personalized approach that tailors medications to an individual’s genetic profile.
As America’s population ages, the risks associated with polypharmacy – taking multiple medications simultaneously – are becoming increasingly urgent. In the United States, nearly 1 in 4 adults aged 65 years and older falls each year, making falls the leading cause of injury-related death in this age group. These falls account for more than 36,000 deaths and more than 3 million emergency department visits annually. Many of these falls are preventable and closely linked to medication-related complications.
The problem is especially acute in South Florida, which has one of the highest concentrations of older adults in the country. A significant percentage of