This document was submitted in response to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care discussion paper on Quality Use of Medicines and Medicines Safety in Aged Care.
Allied health services are often part of multidisciplinary supports in aged care that complement or reduce the need for medical interventions. This includes medicines used for pain management, management of mental ill-health, and managing complex behaviours exhibited in older people with dementia or other types of cognitive decline. However access to allied health services, particularly in residential aged care, is highly restricted and results in an inappropriate dependence on pharmacological interventions.