Interventions at Hospital Discharge to Guide Caregivers in Medication Management for People Living with Dementia: a Systematic Review

BACKGROUND Hospital discharge has a significant impact on the continuity of care for people living with dementia. Clear guidance on medication management should be provided to caregivers of people living with dementia to ensure appropriate use of medications post-discharge. AIM Identify and appraise the impact of interventions at hospital discharge to guide caregivers in the medication management for people living with dementia. METHOD A systematic search of original studies was performed in Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL. Articles published in English that reported on interventions to guide caregivers in medication management for people living with dementia were included. Two authors independently reviewed titles and abstract. Full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and quality assessment was conducted by two authors. RESULTS A total of five studies were included with a range of interventions that were typically delivered post-discharge by a multidisciplinary team and most targeted administration of medications by caregivers. Overall, three types of discharge interventions were identified including a pre-discharge caregiver educational intervention, a post-discharge multidisciplinary team intervention, and discharge summary documentation intervention at transitions of care. Of these, a pre-discharge caregiver education led to shorter hospital stay (25 days vs. 31 days, p = 0.005). A post-discharge intervention that included follow-up visits resulted in lower use of high-risk medications (19% vs. 40%), and reduction in 30-day re-hospitalization rates (11% vs. 20%). In contrast, in another post-discharge intervention study, no difference in one-month re-hospitalization rates (8.4% vs. 8.0%, p = 0.82) was demonstrated. In another study, a post-discharge hospital educational program provided to caregivers  led to significantly reduced caregiver burden (31.7 ± 17.6 (SD) pre-intervention to 27.7 ± 16.9 (SD) post-intervention (p = 0.037)). DISCUSSION Current findings suggest there is a need for well-designed interventions to guide caregivers in all aspects of medication management for people living with dementia, and should include support for caregivers in care coordination.