Adding 15 Million Years of Healthy Life: GERI at the Singapore Health and Biomedical Congress 2024 (Part Two)

GERI researchers contributed their research findings through a series of engaging poster presentations at the 22nd Singapore Health and Biomedical Congress (SHBC) 2024 at the Singapore Expo on 10 and 11 October.​

Themed “Adding 15 Million Years of​ Healthy Life", the National Healthcare Group's annual flagship conference gathered healthcare professionals, scientists, community care partners, and researchers over three days to discuss the challenges of delaying the onset of serious illness and raising the healthspan of the population.

In the second of this two-part feature series, we highlight three GERI poster p​resentations on topics such as medication prescribing and the influence of trust on health decisions made by older adults. Read more below.

“Assessing the implementability of a physician pharmacist collaborative intervention to facilitate appropriate prescribing for older adults in outpatient clinics in Singapore" [PDF, 383 KB]

Research Associate June Teng's poster presentation focused on the evaluation of a collaborative intervention between physicians and pharmacists aimed at facilitating appropriate prescribing for older adults in an outpatient specialist clinic within a public acute hospital.

The study, which used a mixed-method approach, concluded that the physicians and pharmacists were positive about conducting medication reviews and the collaborative nature of the intervention. Additionally, they found discussions about the findings from medication reviews to be helpful.​ Areas to address for improved implementation were also identified.

“Older adults' trust in medical community and other information sources during COVID-19 pandemic's vaccination phase: Findings from a mixed methods study" [PDF, 440 KB]

This mixed methods study, presented by Research Associate Fiona Goh, explored how trust influenced health decisions among older adults, particularly during the COVID-19 vaccination phase.

This study emphasised the importance of adapting messaging to different phases of the pandemic to address the needs of older adults. The findings also demonstrated that the medical community in Singapore is a trusted source of information on COVID-19 vaccination and highlighted the importance of the medical community's role in fostering current and future vaccine acceptance.

“Impact of a pharmacist-led medication review on prescribing and patients' experience: Findings from a feasibility study" [PDF, 242 KB]

Tang Jia Ying, Research Officer, spoke about a single-arm, non-randomised, feasibility study that examined the impact of a pharmacist-led medication review on prescribing and patients' experiences.

The study's findings show that using medication review helped to reduce potentially inappropriate medications and other medication issues among the geriatric medicine patients, all of whom were aged 65 and above. Medication reviews were also well-received by the patients, although one-third of them felt that this service should be free of charge.

Congratulations to all our researchers for their continued contributions to improving the health of older adults in Singapore!

Read part one of this feature showcasing more poster presentations by GERI researchers at SHBC 2024 here.​