Centre for Optimisation of Medicines, Department of Pharmacy, UWA

10/08/2026

The UWA Deprescribing Guideline is now available within eMIMSplus and eMIMSelite, supporting the optimisation of medication regimens for older people.

A/Prof Amy Page and Dr Amanda Quek from the The University of Western Australia's Centre for Optimisation of Medicines and Prof Chris Etherton-Beer from WA Centre for Health and Ageing led the development of clinical practice guidelines for deprescribing medications in people aged 65 years and older.

Deprescribing is the process of reducing or stopping medications when they may no longer be necessary, or when the potential risks of continuing a medication outweigh the potential benefits. The guidelines were developed in response to a growing need for guidance on optimising medication regimens in older people to reduce adverse outcomes and treatment burden.

The UWA Deprescribing Guideline is now available under Tools & Resources in eMIMSplus and eMIMSelite.

View the MIMS LinkedIn post:

26/03/2026

Thank Your Pharmacist Day 💊

Pharmacists play a vital role in healthcare, ensuring medicines are used safely, effectively, and appropriately.

From hospital wards to community pharmacies, GP Practices and education, their expertise improves outcomes every day.

We’re proud to support and train the next generation of pharmacists.

10/03/2026

📣 Pharmacists: your voice matters... help shape the future of our profession!

The National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists is currently under review, and pharmacists across Australia are invited to contribute through a national survey.

These standards underpin safe, ethical and effective pharmacist practice and guide how pharmacists develop across their careers.

With pharmacy practice rapidly evolving through:
💊 Expanded scope of practice
💻 Digital health and telehealth
🌏 Sustainable healthcare
Your input is essential to ensure the updated framework reflects contemporary practice across all settings.

Complete the survey and help shape the future of pharmacy practice in Australia. Please follow this link to access the survey: https://www.psa.org.au/national-competancy-standards-framework/

⏳ Survey closes Friday 17 April 2026

04/03/2026

Rhonda Clifford, Liza Seubert and Julie Loveny attended the Pharmaceutical Care Network of Europe Conference in Innsbruck in February.

Rhonda delivered the opening keynote speech (titled Enhancing Outcomes Through Pharmaceutical Care Research) – which was very well received. She highlighted the current challenges for disproportionately affected populations and emphasised the critical role of pharmaceutical care research in improving health outcomes.

The UWA team also delivered two workshops on Developing Resilient Teams. Both were over subscribed, and created a lot of fabulous international discussions on supporting academic staff and those delivering health care.

Liza also presented two posters that focussed on innovations in teaching practice in the Pharmacy Department at UWA.

25/02/2026

Community Conversation today on Medication Reviews

We are thrilled to announce that our Consumer-Led Medication Reviews Community Conversation was oversubscribed! 🎉

This Community Conversation, hosted through the Consumer and Community Involvement Program, was designed to support open dialogue about consumer-initiated medicine reviews and empower people to play an active role in optimising their medication regimens. It reflects a growing recognition that lived experience and patient-centred perspectives are essential to shaping research and practice in medicines safety and quality use — particularly in the context of complex medication regimens in older adults. 

Thank you to everyone who expressed interest and to all who will contribute their voice, insight and experience. Their participation strengthens the evidence base for consumer-driven approaches and aligns with broader efforts to enhance meaningful consumer and community involvement in health research. 

Stay tuned for insights and outcomes from this important conversation!

12/02/2026

PhD student Amanda Quek has published an interesting paper titled "Dispensing patterns of prescription medicines among older Australians from 2013–2023."

Have a read of this infographic and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

05/02/2026

"Healthcare spending and factors associated with fall injury in Australia residential aged care: a cohort analysis" is an insightful new article with contributions from Associate Professor Amy Page.

The authors concluded that:
- The healthcare spending on fall injury per resident annum in residential aged care represents 20% of the 2021-2022 healthcare expenditure per capita.
- The high cost and inverted U-shaped relationship between BMI and falls risk underscores the need for more effective and residential aged care-tailored falls prevention strategies in this setting.

If you are interested in reading this article, you can find it via the link https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2025/01/06/ip-2024-045516.long

29/01/2026

PhD Student Amanda Quek, from our Department of Pharmacy at UWA, has published an exciting new paper titled "The development of a Community Service Announcement to raise awareness of the Home Medicines Review health service Program"

You can find the video cited in the article via this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3VssXGcw6U

Authors: Quek HW, Hawthorne Deborah, Herandez Esther, Thompson A, Lee Georgie, Hart B, Huxhagen K, Rodrigues P, Barwick A, McDonough Tiernan, Young F, Currie B, Phillips K, Truong R, Ly D, Angley Manya, Page AT

Australasian Journal of Ageing 2025 44(3) e70086 A

Congratulations to Amanda and her team on an important Community Service Announcement and interesting publication!

Home Medicines Review are a government funded service involving a home visit with a pharmacist to help Australians get the best out of their medications. Thi...

22/01/2026

New research shows dental opioid dispensing has increased over the last decade which highlights the importance of opioid stewardship in dentistry.

Using a nationally representative 10% PBS dispensing sample, this longitudinal study looked at opioids prescribed by dentists from 2013–2022.

What they found:
- 998,774 dental prescriptions were dispensed to 470,118 patients
-18.4% of dental prescriptions were opioids (183,303 prescriptions)
- Dispensed dental opioids increased by an average of 4.4% per year across the decade
- The average quantity of opioid pills dispensed decreased over time
- 2,727 children and adolescents were dispensed dental opioids
- Most people received ≤4 opioid prescriptions, but a small group received much higher quantities (up to 149)

The study concludes that evidence-based opioid stewardship needs to include dentists, and that access to drug monitoring programmes could help support better prescribing decisions.

We’re proud to highlight that Associate Professor Amy Page and Dr Alex Park from our School of Health and Clinical Sciences collaborated on this important research project.