Patients’ perceptions of medicines information received at hospital discharge in Norway: a qualitative interview study

Abstract

Background Insufficient transfer of medicines information is a common challenge at discharge from hospital. Following discharge, home dwelling patients are expected to manage their medicines themselves and adequate counselling is an important prerequisite for patient empowerment and self-efficacy for medicines management. Objective The aim was to identify patients’ needs for medicines information after discharge from hospital, including the patients’ perception and appraisal of the information they received at discharge. Setting The study enrolled patients discharged from three medical wards at a secondary care hospital in Oslo, Norway. Method Patients were included at the hospital, at or close to the day of discharge and qualitative, semi-structured interviews were performed during the first 2 weeks after discharge. Eligible patients were receiving medicines treatment on admission and after discharge, were handling the medicines themselves, and discharged to their own home. Data were collected in 2017. Interviews were analysed with thematic analysis inspired by Systematic Text Condensation. Main outcome measure Patients’ perceptions of medicines information. Results In total, 12 patients were interviewed. They were discharged in equal numbers from the three wards, representing both sexes and a broad age range. Patients perceive medicines information as a continuum and not limited to specific encounters, like the discharge conversation. They gain information in several ways; by receiving information from health care professionals, through observations, and by seeking it themselves. Some thought they could have been better informed about adverse reactions and how to manage life while being a medicines user. Others felt they did not want or need more information. Patients employ various strategies for coping with their use of medicines, influencing their self-efficacy towards medicine management. Conclusion Medicines information should focus on empowering the patients throughout the hospital stay and not solely at discharge, taking into account the individual patient’s needs for information, preferences and prior knowledge.

Medication Safety in Municipal Health and Care Services

“…Some thought they could have been better informed about adverse reactions and how to manage life as a user of medicines. Others felt they did not want or need more information (Svensberg et al, 2021). This is also shown in other studies (Borgsteede et al, 2011;Kusch et al, 2018).…”

Discharge processes and medicines communication from the patient perspective: A qualitative study at an internal medicines ward in Norway

“…In our study, patients generally experienced a lot of waiting during their hospital stay and this time could have been better utilized. We propose implementing more patient‐centred activities nurturing patient participation during the whole hospital stay, this could reduce the ‘information overload’ in the discharge conversation, as also previously suggested 40,41 . In addition, it should be further explored how continuity of care could be improved 7,36,42,43 …”

“…We propose implementing more patient-centred activities nurturing patient participation during the whole hospital stay, this could reduce the 'information overload' in the discharge conversation, as also previously suggested. 40,41 In addition, it should be further explored how continuity of care could be improved. 7,36,42,43 A strength of this study is the combination of observations and patient interviews.…”

Formação Superior em Saúde: relação entre o Letramento em Saúde e o cuidado na perspectiva do SUS

“…O baixo LS é diretamente relacionado a fatores como baixa escolaridade e renda, idade mais avançada, presença de múltiplas condições crônicas ou deficiências, o que traz consequências diretas à saúde da população. Assim, ele afeta o envolvimento dos indivíduos na tomada de decisões adequadas e, consequentemente, os resultados em saúde, podendo causar impacto nos custos e nos sistemas de saúde [3][4][5] [27][28] .…”