Reducing the burden of medicines with anticholinergic effects on older people

Melissa Cromarty

Melissa is a Board Director at the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA). Mel currently works as a Facility Manager at Calvary Care. She is a residential aged care nurse, and has qualifications and experience in emergency, intensive care, general practice and aged care.

Mel’s passions include promoting the positive impact of nurses in improving health outcomes and the important role nurses play in chronic disease management and preventative health.

In a previous role, Mel was Team Leader with the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network where she helped increase the profile of Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to ensure that general practices understood and appreciated the value of nurses in the primary care setting. Mel has also educated PHNs about their role in implementing alternate models of care.

Prior to joining APNA’s Board, Mel was involved with APNA’s Education Endorsement Program, Conference Advisory Committee and represented APNA on the Decision Assist Advisory Group on Palliative Care.

Dr Paresh Dawda

Paresh Dawda is a GP with a clinical practice focused on people with complex and chronic health care needs, including older people who are housebound and those in residential aged care. His practice provides a team-based approach to care of older people.

Paresh is Co-Chair of the PHN's Clinical Council and GP Adviser to NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and eHealth. He is Co-Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee on Quality Care and was a member of the group that reviewed and produced the RACGP's aged care clinical guide (Silver Book).

Paresh is Adjunct Professor at University of Canberra and Adjunct Associate Professor at UNSW. He also provides consultancy services on value-based and high-performing health care.

Dr Lisa Kouladjian O’Donnell

Dr Kouladjian O'Donnell is a registered consultant pharmacist who conducts Home Medicine Reviews in older Australians, and is a clinical pharmacist educator within the School of Pharmacy at The University of Sydney.

Lisa is a research fellow in geriatric pharmacotherapy in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at The University of Sydney, and the Kolling Institute, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW. She has led the development of tools that can be translated into clinical practice to address polypharmacy-related issues, including The Drug Burden Index Calculator and the Goal-directed Medication review Electronic Decision Support System (G-MEDSS). These tools are designed to guide accredited pharmacists and GPs to deprescribe inappropriately prescribed anticholinergic and sedative medications, while considering their patient's goals of care.

Alison Marcus

Alison Marcus has been a member of Consumers Health Forum of Australia since 2003.

She has represented consumers’ interests on a range of statutory and other committees in medicines regulation, community pharmacy research projects, advertising oversight of pharmaceuticals, safety and quality healthcare standards and review of the MBS. She has an interest in health literacy improvements for users of health services, including the tools used to provide access to information and regulation of information standards.

Alison has worked as a registered nurse since 1978, with experience in intensive care, community health, midwifery, infection control, diabetes education and stomal therapy in metropolitan, regional and remote settings across several Australian states. She has also worked as a sessional clinical teacher and occasional lecturer in acute and community hospitals and tertiary programs.