Deprescribing statins in frail elderly in long-term care homes

This pilot study focused on examining clinician, resident, and family perspectives on deprescribing statins in the frail elderly population across two long-term care homes (LTCHs) in Hamilton. The study explored attitudes toward deprescribing, polypharmacy, perceived barriers, and communication experiences related to medication decision-making in long-term care.

We found strong clinician support for deprescribing, alongside barriers such as limited family awareness, communication challenges, and uncertainty about potential outcomes. Residents and families generally expressed trust in clinicians but reported limited confidence in initiating discussions related to medications. Findings from this pilot study were presented via a poster presentation at the Ontario Long-Term Care Clinicians (OLTCC) Conference in October 2025.

Following this milestone, the project is now entering the implementation phase. We are currently initiating a statin deprescribing implementation project at St. Peter’s Residence, which is guided by findings from the pilot study. In this project, we are also integrating evidence-based guidelines and tools provided by deprescribing.org into routine medication review processes.

The goal of this work is to support patient- and family-centred medication management in long-term care homes through ongoing education and communication, while informing future deprescribing initiatives across other medication classes.

You can view the OLTCC poster presentation here.
You can view the statin implementation project plan here.

Project Lead: Kamal Shankardass
Project Team: Kamal Shankardass, Naveera Zaki, Bilal Ahmadi
Contact: Kamal Shankardass (kanwalshankardass2@gmail.com)