Consumer resources (medication safety)

As part of the Opioid Action Plan, Health Canada, working with key stakeholders, committed to “Better informing Canadians about the risks of opioids”, by providing patient information sheets for all dispensed opioids.

ISMP Canada and key stakeholders, recently announced (see news release ) the Opioid Safety Handout, entitled Opioid Pain Medicines, Information for Patients and Families . This handout is now being distributed with opioid prescriptions at some pharmacies, with broader distribution expected in the next few months.

Lisa

Choosing Wisely Canada has created patient pamphlets, using plain language. “The materials are meant to help patients learn about the tests and treatments in question, when they are necessary and when they are not, and what patients can do to improve their health.”

Many of their pamphlets are aimed at informed decision making for using medication.
Such as:
1. Treating heartburn and gastro-esophageal reflux (GERD): Using proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) carefully
2. Pain medicines: What to do if you have heart problems or kidney disease
3. Insomnia and anxiety in older people: Sleeping pills are usually not the best solution

These patient pamphlets and more can be found at Choosing Wisely Canada – Patient Pamphlets. (www.choosingwiselycanada.org/materials/)

Samim Hasham
B.Sc. Pharm (Hons), MMngt, CDE, PharmD.

ISMP Canada in collaboration with CPSI, Patients for Patient Safety Canada, CSHP and CPhA created the:

5 Questions to Ask About Your Medications


This consumer resource is a communication tool developed in partnership with patients, that provides the patient with key questions to ask about their medication with the goal that they will be better informed and use medications safely. Healthcare providers are encouraged to share these questions with patients – and be available to answer them, especially at transitions in care. It is now available in over 20 languages !

Organizations can also endorse the poster by requesting to have their logo added. Check if your logo is already
here .

If you are interested in adding your organization to the list of over 100 endorsing organizations, please send me your logo in vector format (.eps) and specify if you would like it in English and/or French.

We encourage organizations to share your experiences with using the 5 Questions to ask about your medications.
And let us know what you think.

Watch this video to learn more!

Kindest Regards,

Alice
Medication Safety Specialist, ISMP Canada
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I would like to start off this Resources folder (Consumer resources) for medication safety, with a captivating presentation about why we need to focus efforts on improving medication safety.

This is a recorded presentation , from Patients for Patients Safety Canada, hosted by CPSI from October 2016.

Real stories, about real families and the preventable harm they suffered from medications.

It provides ideas on how to advance patient engagement in medication safety. Worth a listen/read.

Here is the video for one presenter's story. Johanna Trimble - Is your Mom on Drugs, ours was and here's what we did about it

Feedback, sharing of resources, stories - all is encouraged. Do you know of an initiative to help patients/families become more informed in making decisions about the safe use of medications? Please post!

Lisa

This thread is where you can share consumer resources.

Please use the name or title of the resource, as the subject line. Also, avoid using the words "Link to" or "Document".
Please include a short (4 line) description with key words, so that members may use the search function to find the resource.