BE-SAFE project
Benzodiazepine and sedative hypnotics (BSHs) incur significant adverse effects and costs, especially in older adults. Addressing BSH overuse in older adults is therefore an urgent priority to improve patient safety in Europe. However, previous attempts did not lead to large-scale reduction in use.
The goal of BE-SAFE is to improve patient safety by addressing knowledge and practice gaps related to the reduction of BSHs used for sleep difficulties in Europe. BE-SAFE proposes an interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial approach with experts in guidelines, implementation, dissemination, case studies, geriatrics and sleep. BE-SAFE will emphasize patient involvement by establishing a Patient Partnership Advisory Council (PAC) with patients, informal carers and patient organisations, which will advise on all aspects of the project
BE-SAFE is structured into seven inter-related Work Packages (WPs):
WP1 – Patient, carer & healthcare system perspectives
Describing healthcare systems and current clinical pathways, and identifying barriers and enablers to discontinue BSHs
Lead: UCLouvain - Prof. Dr. Anne Spinewine
WP2 - Clinical guidelines & implementation recommendations to reduce BSHs
Using the 'MAGIC' process to develop trustworthy guidelines
Lead: Magic Evidence - Dr. Thomas Agoritsas
WP3 – Patient-centred materials & procedures to reduce BSHs
Conducting a systematic review of interventions to reduce BSHs and develop customisable patient-centred materials and procedures
Lead: IPIN - Prof. Dr. Adam Wichniak
WP4 – Multicountry cluster Randomised Control Trial (RCT) to reduce BSHs
Conducting a cluster RCT in hospital and outpatient settings of six European countries to test the intervention
Lead: UBERN - Prof. Dr. Nicolas Rodondi
WP5 – Case studies and clinical pathways
Conducting case studies to assess patient and carer experiences of the intervention and context specificities to develop country-specific and generalisable models of the BE-SAFE intervention to support adaptation of clinical pathways and scale-up and spread.
Lead: UCLouvain - Prof. Dr. Anne Spinewine
WP6 – PAC, implementation and dissemination
Developing a PAC, create a toolkit including all BE-SAFE products, and collaborate with Choosing Wiseley, Cochrane Sustainable Healthcare, OECD and deprescribing.org to allow broad-scale implementation and dissemination of the programme.
Lead: FSIE - Dr. Antoni Salvà
WP7 – Coordination and management
Ensuring scientific coordination and administrative management for smooth and successful implementation.
Lead: Coordination: UCLouvain - Prof. Dr. Anne Spinewine, Project management: TP21 - Dr. Petra Zalud
