Congratulations to Dr. Barbara Farrell, who has been awarded the 2019 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Aging Betty Havens Prize for Knowledge Translation in Aging.
Knowledge translation involves the conversion of research into clinical practice—something that Dr. Barbara Farrell has excelled at through her work in deprescribing. Deprescribing is the planned and supervised process of stopping or reducing medications that may be causing harm or may no longer be of benefit.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure that the deprescribing guidelines are evidence-based, easy to access and easy to use – which will help clinicians know when and how to reduce medications safely as people age,” Dr. Farrell says. “This national recognition from the CIHR Institute of Aging is encouraging and motivating.”
Since 2013, Dr. Farrell and the Bruyère Deprescribing Research Team have worked tirelessly to address challenges related to polypharmacy and improving medication-related care for older adults. This practice is of particular benefit to aging Canadians: according the Canadian Institute for Health Information, one out of four people aged 65 and older were prescribed at least 10 prescription medications in 2016.
“This award makes me proud of the many people who’ve contributed to the development, testing, adoption and dissemination of the deprescribing guidelines over the last six year,” says Dr. Farrell. “It’s truly been a team effort.”
Dr. Farrell is an assistant professor with the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine, and a scientist with the Bruyère Research Institute (BRI) and the CT Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre.
The Betty Havens Prize is given to researchers with outstanding achievements in knowledge translation in aging at a local or regional level.
