Medication Management Using Technology-Based Interventions in Older People at Home Care Settings: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Background: Older adults with complex care needs and polypharmacy are at risk of experiencing medication-related problems such as administration errors and adverse drug events. These problems lead to increased use of emergency care and hospital admissions. Technology-based interventions have been introduced to address some of these problems. This review aims to establish key concepts and address the gaps in the evidence base to improve the use of technology-based interventions and reduce medication management-associated problems in home care settings.

Objective: This scoping review aims to understand the extent and type of evidence regarding the management of medications for older people in home care settings using technology-based interventions.

Methods: The review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology. The published studies will be searched through MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, IEEE Xplore, and ACM digital library, and the unpublished studies through the EBSCO Open Dissertations database. Studies published in all languages will be considered. A broad scope of evidence, including quantitative, qualitative, text, and opinion studies, will be considered. This review will include studies of older adults (aged 60 years or older) living in home care settings and receiving formal or informal social care support for medication management. Studies that focus on the application of the technology for medication management will be included. The titles and abstracts will be reviewed initially for relevance, and then, the full text will be reviewed for in-depth analysis. The results of the search and inclusion process will be presented in a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) flow diagram. Data will be extracted from the included studies using a data extraction tool developed for this study.

Results: A draft charting table will be developed as a data extraction tool. Results will be presented in a graph, diagram, or table, accompanied by a narrative summary.

Conclusions: This review will identify and synthesize evidence associated with applying technology-based medication management interventions to older people in home care settings and the strategies to overcome those identified challenges. This review will identify knowledge gaps, clarify concepts, and make recommendations for future research on technology-based medication management interventions.