Beatrice is an elderly patient with multiple chronic conditions, including arthritic pain.

Meet Beatrice

  • Age: 75
  • Condition: Beatrice has multiple chronic conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), osteoarthritis and dementia. She has also suffered from chronic arthritic pain for many years.
  • Treatment plan: Beatrice takes oxycocet 5/325 mg as needed to help manage her chronic pain. She also takes diazepam as needed for insomnia and multiple other medications for her COPD and dementia.
  • Other: Beatrice has seven grandchildren ranging from ages 2 to 11.

References: 1. American Addiction Centers. Opioid epidemic coming for the elderly. Available at: https://drugabuse.com/opioids/prescription/elderly-opioid-epidemic/. 2. Antoniou T, Pritlove C, Shearer D, et al. A qualitative study of a publicly funded pharmacy-dispensed naloxone program. International Journal of Drug Policy. 2021:103146. 3. Canadian Institute for Health Information. Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits Due to Opioid Poisoning in Canada. Available at: https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/Opioid%20Poisoning%20Report%20%20EN.pdf.4. Drug Free Kids Canada. Help your teens before they help themselves. Available at: https://www.drugfreekidscanada.org/prevention/drug-info/prescription-drugs/. 5. Finkelstein Y, Macdonald EM, Gonzalez A, et al. Overdose risk in young children of women prescribed opioids. Pediatrics. 2017;139(3):e20162887. 6. Government of Canada. Opioid overdose. Available at: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/problematic-prescription-drug-use/opioids/overdose.html. 7. Makris UE, Higashi RT, Marks EG, et al. Ageism, negative attitudes, and competing co-morbidities – why older adults may not seek care for restricting back pain: a qualitative study. Geriatrics. 2015;15:39. 8. Mueller SR et al. Attitudes toward naloxone prescribing in clinical settings: a qualitative study of patients prescribed high dose opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. Gen Intern Med. 2016;32(3):277-283. 9. Tsuyuki R et al. Canadian national consensus guidelines for naloxone prescribing by pharmacists. Canadian Pharmacists Journal. 2020;153(6):347-351.

PP-NAR4-CA-00087_05-2024 EN