Seminar Series
Title
Antipsychotic Dispensing to Nova Scotia Seniors’ Pharmacare Beneficiaries: Patterns Identified and the Implications
Speaker
Dr. Shanna Trenaman and Alexandra M. Yip
Time and Date
12 – 1 pm ADT, February 26, 2025
Location
MS Teams Join the meeting now
Bio
Dr. Shanna Trenaman is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University and an Affiliate Scientist with Geriatric Medicine Research, Nova Scotia Health. Shanna is a Registered Pharmacist in Nova Scotia and began her clinical career as the team pharmacist for the Geriatric Medicine consult service at the Dartmouth General Hospital, Nova Scotia Health. Since then, Shanna completed an Interdisciplinary PhD at Dalhousie University focusing on pharmacology and pharmacoepidemiology. Now in an academic appointment Shanna is focused on understanding risk factors for dementia and understanding the role of medications in improving the lives of adults living with dementia.
Alexandra M. Yip has a clinical background as an occupational therapist in geriatrics and stroke rehabilitation. Since completing her MSc in Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University in 2000, she has held various teaching and research positions. As Research Analyst for the New Brunswick Heart Centre (2009-2018), she managed various patient registries for clinical outcomes research led by physicians and medical trainees. She has contributed to pharmacoepidemiologic research and knowledge mobilization since 2020
Synopsis
Antipsychotic medications are prescribed to older adults for a variety of reasons, including to manage insomnia, and manage behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Antipsychotic medications have many known risks including increasing risk of falls, arrythmia, and an increased risk of death or stroke in those adults living with dementia. Prolonged exposure is considered to increase these risks. In this work, we present more than a decade of antipsychotic pharmacy dispensing data to Nova Scotia Seniors’ Pharmacare beneficiaries. We consider not just volume of antipsychotics dispensed but also the characteristics of the people who were dispensed antipsychotics and the duration of their exposure. In this seminar, we will present our methods and results in investigating antipsychotic dispensations in Nova Scotia.