New Brunswick’s aging population has created the need for health and wellness advancements and UNB’s top researchers are finding innovative solutions.
Dr. Carole Goodine, one of UNB’s visiting research fellows at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, received $50,000 in research funding from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation as one of the three top winners at the organization’s R3 Research Innovation Awards.
As winner of the CBC Viewers’ Choice Award at the gala, Dr. Goodine received an additional $15,000 in funding.
Dr. Goodine and her team of researchers are developing a smartphone app to address polypharmacy, or the administering of multiple medications simultaneously.
The smartphone app will monitor prescription distribution for the safety of elderly people living with health issues and taking multiple medications daily.
With hundreds of medications considered to be high-risk in older adults, tools to identify potential concerns could avert health issues for patients.
Dr. Goodine is a pharmacist at Horizon Health Network and a researcher at the York Care Centre in Fredericton. She says that more than 60 per cent of residents in nursing homes take more than 10 medications and patients on more than five medications have a higher risk of experiencing side effects and drug interactions.
“When clinicians are reviewing medications, they have to identify those that pose higher risks. Automating this process will quickly trigger which medications should be used carefully in older adults,” said Dr. Goodine.
The inspiration for her research stemmed from witnessing first-hand the positive effects of prescribing fewer medications.
“I’ve personally seen people do better when they come off these medications – they feel and look much better.”
