What can we learn from patients’ experiences of polypharmacy?

Abstract

Health professionals need to understand patients’ own experiences and the issues that are important to them in order to tackle the challenges posed by multimorbidity and polypharmacy. This article provides a summary of a recent Danish systematic review that examined multimorbid patients’ perspectives on polypharmacy.

‘It's a job to be done’. Managing polypharmacy at home: A qualitative interview study exploring the experiences of older people living with frailty

“…Tasks performed by patients included ordering; organising and storing medicines; 31,32 planning the taking; 33 monitoring and eventually reporting effects, reactions and interactions; and coordinating tests and appointments 34 . Our data confirmed that safe medicines self‐management requires a wide range of knowledge and skills 18,35 If we acknowledge that medicines self‐management by patients with polypharmacy implies skilled work, 33 we cannot ignore the inherent inequalities in, for example, health literacy, levels of deprivation, language barriers, 36 race and ethnicity 37 and access to social support 38 . In the United Kingdom, the COVID‐19 pandemic brought to light how race and ethnicity affect people's access to and experiences of care 39 .…”

“… 34 Our data confirmed that safe medicines self‐management requires a wide range of knowledge and skills 18 , 35 If we acknowledge that medicines self‐management by patients with polypharmacy implies skilled work, 33 we cannot ignore the inherent inequalities in, for example, health literacy, levels of deprivation, language barriers, 36 race and ethnicity 37 and access to social support. 38 In the United Kingdom, the COVID‐19 pandemic brought to light how race and ethnicity affect people's access to and experiences of care. 39 Research about how health inequalities impact on medicines self‐management experiences in the older people is still limited, 37 and interventions to support frail older people on polypharmacy should take care not to widen health inequalities.…”