Policies for a successful aging: need of elderly functional ability assessment to manage their own medication

Abstract

Background The correct medication use by community dwelling elders is essential for the preservation of their health and quality of life. In Portugal, there are validated tools to assess the activities of daily living abilities. However, there is none specifically built to assess the medication management ability. A tool’s validation allowing the assessment of the Portuguese elder’s functional ability to manage their own medication represents an essential step, in order to devise effective policies aiming the promotion of independence, health and autonomy for the longest possible period, through the implementation of support measures in this field (1-3). The high inability rates revealed as age advances reflects a high risk for the elders health. According to WHO data (2004), about 46% of the individuals with 60 years and over, presents some degree of inability, being the more frequently causes of this inability vision and hearing loss, dementia and osteoarthritis. All can be related with a decreasing ability to manage their own medication (non-intentional process) (4-6). The evaluation of the elder’s functional ability to manage their own medication through the application of a validated tool can be an important way to identify potential inabilities and needs of the elders in primary healthcare centers and plan policy strategies to increase their performance, self-care skills and successful aging. Objective The aim of this project is to assess the functional ability of the Portuguese elderly population to manage their own medication through the application of a specific and validated tool.