Drug Care of Elderly People and Clinical Pharmacology (4cr)

Evaluation scale

1-5

Objective

Students will become aware of their responsibilities in handling drugs, in the drug care of elderly clients and in providing counselling on medicines. Upon completion of the course, students will understand the basic mechanisms of how drugs work, and they will be familiar with the medical treatment of common diseases. Students will also be aware of special problems in elderly people's medication and of typical side effects and combined effects of drugs. Students will learn various forms and routes of medication, the relevant terminology and calculations. They will know how to handle drugs safely, how to implement pharmaceutical care and how to counsel elderly clients and their family caregivers. Using an ethical perspective, students are able to justify decisions made on old people's drug care.

Content

- Basic concepts in pharmacology
- The elderly and drugs
- Absorbtion, distribution, excretion, accumulation, cross-over effects and side effects
- Basic principles in drug care
- Needs for development in elderly people's pharmaceutical care
- Drug substance groups and drug treatment for various illnesses of the elderly
- Types of drugs, handling and administering drugs
- Drug mechanisms and combined effects
- Calculating dosage
- Special issues in drug care and counselling of elderly people, areas of responsibility in drug treatment
- Unit-specific drug care plans
- Legislation pertaining to pharmaceutical services and drug care
- Students learn to monitor their drug care competence, the student's drug care certificate

Materials

- Saano, S.&Taam-Ukkonen M. 2013. Lääkehoidon käsikirja. SanomaPro. Saatavuus: http://plari.amkit.fi/vwebv/holdingsInfo?sk=fi_FI&bibId=103593
- Kivelä, S-L. 2007. Iäkkäiden lääkehoito. Lääkelaitos. Kansaneläkelaitos. Kapseli 0355-242X. Saatavana: http://www.med.utu.fi/yleislaak/kivela/Kapseli35.pdf

- Laine, K. 2005. Lääkkeiden yhteisvaikutukset (sov. osin)
Saatavuus: http://plari.amkit.fi/vwebv/holdingsInfo?sk=fi_FI&bibId=63454

- Turvallinen lääkehoito. 2007. Saatavuus:https://plari.amkit.fi/vwebv/search?searchArg1=turvallinen+l%C3%A4%C3%A4kehoito&argType1&sortBy=BUB_DATE_DESC=phrase&searchCode1=TKEY&combine2=and&searchArg2=&argType2=any&searchCode2=GKEY&combine3=and&searchArg3=&argType3=any&searchCode3=GKEY&year=2011-2013&yearOption=range&fromYear=2006&toYear=2006&location=all&place=all&type=all&language=all&recCount=25&searchType=2&page.search.search.button=Hae
- Geronomien Lääkehoitopassi 2013/Student's drug care certificate
- Other material selected by the lecturer

Teaching methods

Co-operative lectures, independent and group assignments, drug dosage calculations

Employer connections

the study course does not include practice

Student workload

106 hours

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Grade 5:
Students are aware of and able to justify their responsibilities in handling drugs and are able to implement drug care and counselling of elderly people in a flexible manner. They produce ideas for the development of decisionmaking in older people's drug care. Students know how to plan and implement the entire pharmacological care process of older clients. Their drug calculations are flawless.
Grade 3:
Students are aware of their responsibilities in handling drugs and in implementing drug care and counselling of elderly people. They are able to examine the ethical perspective in decisionmaking concerning older people's drug care. Students know how to implement the entire pharmacological care process of older clients. Their drug calculations are flawless.
Grade 1:
Students are aware of their responsibilities in handling drugs and in implementing drug care and counselling of elderly people. They are able to define the ethical perspective in decisionmaking concerning older people's drug care. Students know how to implement the entire pharmacological care process of older clients in a passable manner. Their drug calculations are flawless.

Qualifications

study course: introduction to anatomy and physiology