What unique medication safety challenges exist in long-term care, and how can teams address them?

• A. Single drug regimens.
• B. Pediatric dosing challenges.
• C. Cognitive impairment alone.
• D. Polypharmacy and cognitive impairment; address with deprescribing, regular med reviews, caregiver education, and simplified regimens.

Answer: (D)

In long-term care, the safety challenges come from the combination of taking many medications and having cognitive impairment. Polypharmacy increases the risk of drug–drug interactions, inappropriate prescribing, duplications, and adverse drug events, while cognitive impairment makes it harder for residents to manage complex dosing schedules, notice changes, and communicate issues.

Addressing this requires a team-based approach focused on deprescribing to remove medications that may no longer be needed or beneficial, regular medication reviews to reassess each drug’s ongoing necessity, effectiveness, and safety, and caregiver education so those who administer and observe residents understand dosing, potential side effects, and when to seek help. Simplifying regimens—such as reducing the number of daily doses and aligning administration times—helps reduce administration errors and improves adherence.

The other options don’t fit because they miss the combined impact of multiple medications and cognitive challenges: a single drug regimen ignores polypharmacy, pediatric dosing isn’t relevant in this setting, and focusing on cognitive impairment alone misses the medication load and its safety risks.