Health care providers’ roles and responsibilities in management of polypharmacy: Results of a modified Delphi:

Background:Little is known about the roles that allow interprofessional teams to effectively manage older patients experiencing polypharmacy.Objectives:To identify and examine the consensus on salient interprofessional roles, responsibilities and competencies required in managing polypharmacy.Methods:Four focus groups with 35 team members practising in geriatrics were generated to inform survey development. The sessions generated 63 competencies, roles or responsibilities, which were categorized into 4 domains defined by the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative. The resulting survey was administered nationally to geriatric health care professionals who were asked to rate the importance of each item in managing polypharmacy; we sought agreement within and across professions using a confirmatory 2-round Delphi method.Results:Round 1 was completed by 98 survey respondents and round 2 by 72. There was high intra-professional and interprofessional consensus regarding the importance of competencies a...