Brown Bag Simulation to Improve Medication Management in Older Adults

Medical students must care for aging patients with growing medication lists and need training to address negative patient outcomes associated with polypharmacy. The literature shows that many trainees and practitioners are not confident in their abilities to care for this older population with complex medical conditions. We created an innovative simulation activity to teach safe, effective, and simplified medication management to second-year medical students.

We developed the brown bag medication reconciliation simulation to improve self-efficacy and knowledge for trainees working with older adults. The case example was an older patient who presented with his brown bag of medications and prefilled pillbox for a medication reconciliation with his provider. Teams of medical students identified his medication-management errors and determined strategies for resolution. We assessed learner self-efficacy, knowledge, and satisfaction.

A class of 137 second-year medical students completed the simulation. The average number of learners confident about medication management in older adults increased overall by 41%, with a significant increase across all four self-efficacy domains (p < .001). The average percentage of correctly answered knowledge questions significantly increased from 85% on the presurvey to 92% on the delayed postsurvey (p = .009). Learner open-ended feedback indicated high satisfaction with the simulation.

The brown bag medication reconciliation simulation increased medical student self-efficacy and knowledge related to medication reconciliation and management for older adults. Interactive simulations like this one may be considered for inclusion in health science curricula to improve skills in medication reconciliation and management.