Sun Country's Tatagwa View long-term facility in Weyburn was chosen as one of eight centres in the province to serve as a demonstration site for an improved drug management program among senior residents.

Over the course of the next year, an inter-disciplinary team of professionals will review the drugs prescribed for residents at Tatagwa View.

"Seniors have complex drug needs and their medication management can be a challenge. There is always room for improvement and this program should affect clients' health for the better," said Marga Cugnet, vice-president of primary and integrated care for the Sun Country Health Region.

Members of this team will look for drugs that might cause serious adverse side effects among the elderly, which can be avoided by substituting other medications.

The program is the result of a study by the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council, released in December of 2004, which showed 28 per cent of seniors in long-term facilities were regularly prescribed at least one drug found on a list of high-risk drugs.

The internationally-recognized list, called the Beers list, was developed in 1991 to identify drugs which should be avoided by the elderly. The Health Quality Council study was based on drug insurance claims made to the province's public drug coverage program.

The changes to medications can be made in consultation with physicians, and a pharmacist will be included on the interdisciplinary team of professionals.

The manager of Tatagwa View, Marnell Cornish, said this kind of review was done regularly when the patients were at Souris Valley, adding, "This is a more formal, detailed process through the Health Quality Council."

The team members for Sun Country include Tracy Price, Sherry Pyett, Rhonda Wall, Pat Horner, Marnell Cornish, Marga Cugnet, Dr. Philip Fong, Dale Rodenbush and Rob Travis.

The program is the result of a partnership involving the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, the Registered Board of Saskatchewan Pharmacists, Saskatchewan Association of Licensed Practical Nurses, the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacists, Saskatchewan Health, the Saskatchewan Medical Association and the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association.