Medication Management in Older people: Realist Approaches Based on Literature and Evaluation (MEMORABLE): a realist synthesis

BackgroundThe number and proportion of older people in the United Kingdom (UK) population is rapidly increasing. Many older people live with more than one long term health condition. Living with multimorbidity can significantly reduce an older person’s quality of life. Older people also spend increasing amounts of their time engaging with a range of separate health and care services.Older people are taking increasing numbers of medications to treat multi-morbidity. Medication related adverse events, across all age groups, have been estimated to be responsible for 5,700 deaths and cost the UK£ 750 million annually. The burdens and risks from medication fall disproportionately on older people. There are also burdens and risks for informal carers, and health and care practitioners.