Continuing the Conversation: Medical Cannabis in Long-Term Care

I wanted to continue the conversation about cannabinoid therapy in long term care this week by sharing some insights from my colleague Kim Van Dam, Administrator at Steeves & Rozema’s Trillium Villa.

Here she talks about the outcomes we’ve seen in successfully reducing narcotic and antipsychotic use amongst residents living with chronic pain and dementia.

Trillium Villa is one of Ontario’s first LTC residences to introduce cannabinoid therapy and the first home that I worked in several years ago. I continue to work with Kim and the forward-thinking & dedicated S&R team to this day and have been excited by the number of like-minded long term care organizations and in-house physicians who have reached out to learn more about whether it could benefit their residents/patients.

Recent Trends in Cannabis Use in Elderly Americans

I wanted to share a quick update with you on some research I’m doing, investigating medical cannabis use & effectiveness in older adults.

Its excellent safety profile and multimodality make medical cannabis particularly appropriate and beneficial in the senior population -- especially as polypharmacy is the number one cause of hospitalizations due to adverse drug reactions amongst this group.

Have a watch of this short video for more info.

For the full article referenced click here.

The new grey market: As older users warm up to cannabis, pot companies want to learn more: Financial Post

Cannabis companies hoping to expand the medical market will have to overcome the conservatism towards cannabis amongst medical associations — both the Ontario Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association support the dismantling of the medical cannabis regime altogether, arguing that with legalization, there remains no need for medical professionals to serve a “gatekeeper role.”

This kind of opposition, said Pearson, is what makes is so difficult to obtain funding to really understand how cannabis can improve the lives of seniors. “I treat seniors in a long-term care setting and I’m weaning down their use of anti-psychotics and opioids. To just say leave it up to themselves, that means you’re saying they should self-medicate, which is absurd.” Read full article here.

Medical cannabis safer for elderly with chronic pain than opioids: European Pharmaceutical Review

Medical cannabis therapy can significantly reduce chronic pain in patients age 65 and older without adverse effects, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and the Cannabis Clinical Research Institute at Soroka University Medical Center.

The new study found that cannabis therapy is safe and efficacious for elderly patients who are seeking to address cancer symptoms, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other medical issues.

“While older patients represent a large and growing population of medical cannabis users, few studies have addressed how it affects this particular group, which also suffers from dementia, frequent falls, mobility problems, and hearing and visual impairments,” says Victor Novack, a Professor of Medicinein the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences (FOHS), and head of the Soroka Cannabis Clinical Research Institute. 

“After monitoring patients 65 and older for six months, we found medical cannabis treatment significantly relieves pain and improves quality of life for seniors with minimal side effects reported.” Read full article here and review research here.

Five most common uses for medical cannabis in 65+ demographic: Strainprint

Seniors are among one of the largest existing and growing demographics of medical cannabis users, evidenced by international trends as well as supported by the data collected from the Strainprint app, a mobile application that helps medical cannabis users track their intake and learn which strains and dosages work best for them. Strainprint also provides doctors and clinics with observational data to improve industry treatment knowledge. Based on their current data, here are the top five conditions for which people aged 65 and over are using medical cannabis. Full article.

Medical marijuana therapy program to help seniors: Blackburn News Canada

Dr. Blake Pearson says, “In my clinic daily, I see the benefits of THC and CBD, and in a continuing care facility we see patients suffering from chronic pain, sleep disorders, and dementia-related anxiety. I think it’s a natural fit to try it out and hopefully reduce some of the polypharmacy going on in those types of settings." Full article.