Patients who are older than ever before are now being given chemotherapy - which was once restricted to under-60s – or immunotherapy. Many have challenges relating to cognitive impairment (e.g. delirium and early dementia), and the burden of medication-related problems renders these issues more complex. Some patients display little interest in receiving further information about their condition, possibly because they are overwhelmed. Other patients may have well-meaning family and friends who perform an internet search but don’t fully comprehend the information they have retrieved. Numerous papers regarding patient health literacy and comprehension of medical/pharmaceutical information have been published over the years, demonstrating that up to 80% of information provided is not retained by patients and assessing their comprehension of that which is retained is not straightforward.
This interactive presentation will discuss challenges facing the pharmacist counselling an older patient who is receiving cancer therapy and associated supportive care medications. Various educative and recall strategies will be discussed. A ‘triage’ approach can determine the information patients have already received from other sources and their retention of this. Consideration may be given to deprescribing non-essential medications in order to minimise pill burden, but this needs to be done with sensitivity.