Helping older adults with their medication use problems: A qualitative study on perspectives and challenges of primary health care providers

Identification of Barriers for Active Disease Management and of Medication-Related Problems through Therapeutic Patient Education in Older Home-Care Patients

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study combining an educational intervention with a quantitative analysis of prescriptions in a population of chronic patients. Previous studies [22][23][24][25][26][27] using narrative approaches have focused only on the educational part to explore patients' motivators and perception towards a more active disease management.…”

“…These interventions are particularly important for patients with chronic diseases requiring polypharmacy, a condition which increases the risk of medication-related problems and the difficulty of managing complex regimens. Another population that could benefit from TPE interventions is older adults, who, in addition to experiencing a progressive decline in their physical and cognitive abilities, often experience increased medication-related problems (e.g., due to the prescription of inappropriate medications, overly complex medication regimens, the occurrence of adverse reactions or poor adherence to medications) [25]. Although healthcare professionals may advise on the correct therapeutic behaviour, it is ultimately up to the patient to decide whether or not to take prescribed medications, and when and whether to modify or supplement their pharmacological treatment.…”