Effective strategies for Benzodiazepine weaning in patient care

It is often difficult to help patients wean off benzodiazepines (benzos), especially if the patient has been using this medication for a long time and alternative treatments do not work as well for them. Elderly patients who take benzos are at a higher risk for falls, and patients can develop tolerance to them, which can lead to addiction. In this session, the panel will share their experiences and provide recommendations for when you should and shouldn’t wean patients off benzos and when they are appropriate to prescribe.

The Practising Well Community of Practice has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario Chapter for up to 1 Mainpro+Ⓡcredits. This Community of Practice includes a series of planned webinars. Each session is worth 1 Mainpro+Ⓡcredits, for up to a total of 15 credits.

Panelists:

• Ali Damji, Division Head, Primary Care, Trillium Health Partners and Family Physician, Credit Valley Family Health Team, Mississauga, ON
• Jonathan Bertram

Co-host:

• Nikki Bozinoff, Division Head, Mental Health and Addictions, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto; Physician, Concurrent Outpatient Medical and Psychosocial Addiction Support Service, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Moderator:

• Stephanie Zhou, Addictions Medicine Physician and EDI & Social Accountability Lead, Sunnybrook Hospital; FHO Lead, Don Mills FHT; Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine; Board Director, Toronto Public Health, Toronto, ON