Shaping future deprescribing priorities: outcomes of a World Café stakeholder workshop

Medicine-related harm associated with polypharmacy is a pertinent global health challenge. Deprescribing (reducing or stopping) medicines that cause more potential harm than benefit could mitigate the risk of medicine-related harm. However, the existing deprescribing research-to-practice gap threatens the long-term sustainability and scalability of deprescribing efforts.

To address this, key stakeholders including healthcare practitioners, academics, policymakers and representatives of peak professional organizations, gathered at a World Café workshop to reflect on progress achieved in the deprescribing research and practice landscape while exploring the top future priorities for deprescribing.

Thirty participants agreed on three top priorities: improving the clinical management of deprescribing; engaging consumers and gaining their perspectives; and raising awareness to enhance communication. Emerging themes and related barriers and catalysts were derived and mapped to a socio-ecological model offering a bird-eye's view of these factors on an individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal level.

Our World Cafe' highlights opportunities for future deprescribing research and practice. To promote the uptake of deprescribing in practice, catalysts could include leveraging new technology, promoting deprescribing via social media and optimizing workforce staff and knowledge. Ultimately, this knowledge may motivate deprescribing efforts and bridge the research-to-practice gap.