Medication Management for Older Adults: A Framework for Addressing Polypharmacy

Tuesday, 01 September 2026 at 16:00 / Continuing Education, Lectures and forums, Alumni Events / Virtual

Pharmacology Updates for APPs with Caitlin Burchfield, DNP, RN, AGPCNP-BC

Older adults with multimorbidity often receive treatments guided by single-disease recommendations that may not align with their overall health status, prognosis, or personal goals. This presentation provides a practical, frailty-informed framework for identifying potentially inappropriate medications, recognizing opportunities for deprescribing and de-escalation of care, and engaging patients and families in shared decision-making. Participants will learn how to apply evidence-based tools to optimize medication regimens while prioritizing quality of life and goal-concordant care.

Credit Offered

• 1.0 Contact Hours
• 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits
• 1.0 IPCE Credits
• 1.0 Hours of Participation

Desired Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Recognize clinical indicators of progressive frailty and limited life expectancy that may diminish the likelihood of benefit from preventive or disease-directed therapies.
• Apply a multimorbidity-focused approach to adapt single-disease clinical guidelines for older adults with complex health conditions.
• Identify potentially harmful medication regimens, including central nervous system (CNS) and anticholinergic polypharmacy, and evaluate opportunities for deprescribing.
• Utilize evidence-based tools, including the AGS Beers Criteria®, ePrognosis, and frailty screening instruments, to support medication optimization and de-escalation decisions.
• Employ shared decision-making and goals-of-care conversations to guide deprescribing and align treatment plans with patient values, preferences, and prognosis.

Pharmacology Updates for Advanced Practice Providers Series Description:
The exponential growth of pharmacology data can be overwhelming. Sifting through this deluge to identify reliable, high-quality information becomes daunting. The inability of clinicians to keep up with all the new, relevant data means that they make treatment decisions based on information that may be months or years out of date. This series aims to enhance the healthcare team’s skills, strategies, and performance by incorporating new pharmacology-related guidelines, techniques, and recent research into clinical practice. It also seeks to improve patient outcomes by fostering critical thinking, active participation, and knowledge sharing among healthcare professionals, ensuring they stay updated with the latest evidence-based practices.  

Desired Series Outcomes:
Upon completion of this activity, learners should be able to:  

• Incorporate new guidelines, techniques, and recent research into the pharmacotherapeutic aspects of clinical practice based on the concepts shared in this series. 
• Discuss current clinical cases in the context of evidence-based medicine to identify appropriate screenings and treatments for patients. 
• Improve healthcare outcomes by regularly and frequently engaging the healthcare team in up-to-date and
  evidence-based education. 
• Incorporate systems-based and practice-based processes to improve patient safety and quality in healthcare. 
• Communicate effectively with clinical colleagues by incorporating interprofessional discussion techniques and patient-centered strategies, as appropriate. 
• Analyze published outcome results and apply to current cases to inform the appropriate treatment of patients and practice of medicine. 

Disclosure of faculty financial affiliations

UVA Health Continuing Education as a Joint Accreditation Provider adheres to the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, as well as Commonwealth of Virginia statutes, University of Virginia policies and procedures, and associated federal and private regulations and guidelines.

All individuals involved in the development and delivery of content for an accredited CE activity are required to disclose relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies occurring within the past 24 months (such as grants or research support, employee, consultant, stock holder, member of speakers bureau, etc.).  UVA Health Continuing Education employs appropriate mechanisms to resolve potential conflicts of interest and ensure the educational design reflects content validity, scientific rigor and balance for participants.  Questions about specific strategies can be directed to UVA Health Continuing Education at uvacme@uvahealth.org.

Disclosure of discussion of non-FDA approved uses for pharmaceutical products and/or medical devices

As a Joint Accreditation provider, UVA Health Continuing Education requires that all faculty presenters identify and disclose any off-label or experimental uses for pharmaceutical and medical device products. It is recommended that each clinician fully review all the available data on new products or procedures prior to clinical use.

Disclaimer Information: CE activities accredited by UVA Health Continuing Education are offered solely for educational purposes and do not constitute any form of certification of competency. Learners should always consult additional sources of information and exercise their best professional judgment before making clinical decisions of any kind. Learners are not authorized to copy, modify, reproduce, re-publish, sub-license, sell, upload, broadcast, post, transmit or distribute any of the course materials.

Disclosures:
No one in a position to control the content of this educational activity has disclosed a relevant financial interest or relationship with any commercial interest.

All financial relationships have been mitigated to ensure independence and integrity in the educational content.

Accreditation & Designation Statements

	In support of improving patient care, UVA Health Continuing Education is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
	IPCE Credit: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 1.0 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.
	Physician Associates UVA Health Continuing Education has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria.  This activity is designated for 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Nurses
The University of Virginia School of Medicine and School of Nursing awards 1.0 contact hours to a nurse who participates in this educational activity and completes the post activity evaluation.

Hours of Participation
UVA Health Continuing Education awards 1.0 hours of participation (consistent with the designated number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM  or ANCC contact hours) to a participant who successfully completes this educational activity.

UVA Health Continuing Education maintains a record of participation for six (6) years.

For more information, see Pharmacology Updates for APPs - Caitlin Burchfield - 2026-09-01 CE Information.p.

Questions? Contact sonce@virginia.edu.