This project developed and tested short, animated videos to educate them and their caregivers about medication risks and deprescribing. Members of the "Elder Voices Network" helped create and test the videos, which were evaluated through a clinical trial in primary care offices. The hypothesis was that viewers would experience improvements in medication use, hospitalizations, attitudes toward deprescribing, awareness of medication issues, and discussions with health care providers.

Ranjit Singh, MB BChir, MBA (Department of Family Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences)
Robert Wahler, PharmD (Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences)

Jennifer Stoll, PhD (Co-Investigator; Department of Family Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences)
Collin Clark, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP (Co-Investigator; Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Scott Monte, PharmD (Co-Investigator; Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences)
David Jacobs, PharmD, PhD (Co-Investigator; Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Christopher Daly, PharmD, MBA, BCACP (Co-Investigator; Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences)

Retirement Research Foundation - [7/15/2019 - 5/31/2023]

This project aimed to address the growing issue of problematic polypharmacy, particularly among older adults. The prevalence of polypharmacy has nearly doubled over the last decade, putting many at risk. The project sought to empower older adults and their caregivers to navigate the complexities of polypharmacy through patient-driven deprescribing approaches. The project aims were to develop and test short, animated videos to educate older adults and caregivers about drug complications and how to discuss deprescribing with providers. The project recruited members from the "Elder Voices Network" to participate in the development and testing of these videos. The effectiveness of the videos was evaluated through a pragmatic clinical trial in two primary care offices. The hypothesis is that participants who view the videos will show greater improvement over time in medication count, hospitalizations, attitudes towards deprescribing, alertness to medication problems, and initiating discussions about medication concerns.

Manuscript in Progress - Seeking Student or Resident Collaborators

• Stoll, J. A., Baumgartner, A. D., Brady, L. A., Wahler, A. M., Kamboj, R., Wahler, R. G., & Singh, R. (2025). Empowering older adults in medication safety. Health Literacy and Communication Open, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/28355245.2025.2476133
• Stoll J, Ranahan M, Richbart M, Brennan-Taylor M, Taylor J, Brady LA, Cal J,  Baumgartner AD, Wahler RG, Singh R, Development Of Video Animations To Encourage Patient-Driven Deprescribing: A Team Alice Study. Patient Educ Couns. 2021;104(11):2716-23. Epub 20210511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.03.041

Abstracts

• Stoll J, Wahler RG, Wahler AM, Cosmai M, Singh R. Patients driving deprescribing? - Older adults’ experiences with raising medication concerns with providers. The Annals of Family Medicine November 2023, 21 (Supplement 3) 5319; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.22.s1.5319
• Cosmai M, Stoll J, Wahler A, Singh R, Wahler RG. Educational Videos to Inform Older Adults About Medication Safety. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2023;71(S1):S142-3. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18336   [AWARD: 2023 Clinical Student Research Award]
• Stoll J, Wahler A, Wahler RG, Tenzek K, Singh R. Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to develop a Deprescribing Intervention. The Annals of Family Medicine. 2023;21(Supplement 1):3921. doi:10.1370/afm.21.s1.3921 https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3921
• Wahler RG, Clark CM, Daly C, Stoll JF, Wahler AM, Monte SV, Foster AAF, Jacobs DM, Brady LAF Singh R. A Patient Activation Approach towards Reducing Medication Harm among Older Adults – A Pilot Study. JACCP: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CLINICAL PHARMACY. 2022;5(12):1438. https://doi.org/10.1002/jac5.1732
• Stoll J, Brady LA, Baumgartner AD, Kamboj R, Wahler AM, Singh R, Wahler RG. Empowering Patients in Medication Safety: Insights From Elder Voices. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2022;70(S1):S211. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17755
• Stoll J, Wahler AM, Brady LA, Baumgartner AD, Wahler RG, Singh R. Nothing About Us, Without Us: Community-Based Participatory Research to Improve Educational Interventions on Medication Safety and Deprescribing. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2022;70(S1):S211. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17755

Conference Presentations

• Wahler RG, Clark CM, Wahler AM, Stoll J, Feuerstein S, Daly C, Singh R. Combined Patient/Provider Driven Deprescribing intervention effect on Medication usage in Primary Care. Presented as Research in Progress at 51st NAPCRG Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California October 30 - November 3, 2023
• Wahler A, Stoll J, Cosmai MG, Wahler RG, Singh R. Older Adults’ Experiences with Raising Medication Concerns with Providers. US Deprescribing Research Network 2023 Annual Network Meeting. Long Beach, CA. May 3, 2023.
• Stoll J, Wahler RG, Brady L, Singh R. Development of Video Animations to Encourage Patient-Driven Deprescribing: A Team Alice Study. North American Primary Care Research Group 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting. November 20-24, 2020.
• Kunkes T, Baumgartner AD, Singh R, Wahler RG, Clark CM, Brady L, Chen H. Abstraction Hierarchy for Understanding the Primary Care Office to De-prescribe Medication in Older Adults. 2020 International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care March 8 - 11, 2020 Westin Harbour Castle Hotel Toronto, Ontario