Drug therapy for dependent elderly people

Demographic ageing is a phenomenon that has been observed all over the world. Although advanced age is not considered a disease, it contributes substantially to health care consumption and costs, and medication accounts for a considerable part of this amount. Elderly people are polymedicated, sometimes having more than one prescriber, and there is no proper monitoring of the management of the therapeutic drug regimen. The polymedication of the elderly is, in fact, a problem that justifies research into adherence to the therapeutic regimen and has motivated growing interest, given the significant repercussions that non-compliance with treatment has on health. The purpose of the research presented in this book was to study the management of and adherence to the therapeutic drug regime of elderly people integrated into integrated home-based long-term care teams in the Algarve region, as well as the factors that condition them.