Geriatric patients' views on a pharmacist-led follow-up programme after discharge from hospital

Background

Medication-related problems (MRPs) are common during transitions of care and can lead to hospital readmissions. This patient safety issue is especially pronounced among geriatric patients. In a randomised controlled trial (RCT), the effect of a pharmacist-led follow-up programme after discharge from hospital for people ≥75 years in the north of Sweden was investigated. One of the components in the programme was telephone calls to study participants, to find and manage MRPs.

Objective

To explore study participants' views on follow-up telephone calls by a clinical pharmacist in the RCT.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants who had received an intervention in the RCT. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.

Results

In total, nine participants were interviewed. Four main themes were generated: 1. Experiences of the telephone counselling by the clinical pharmacist, 2. Acceptability of receiving telephone follow-up from a clinical pharmacist, 3. Communication with health care providers, and 4. Medication management and views about medications.

Conclusions

The study revealed varying perceptions of the clinical pharmacists' telephone calls, with participants expressing diverse experiences and preferences regarding the service. Most participants said they considered the content relevant and comprehensible in the conversations. The effect of the follow-up programme may have improved if the role of the clinical pharmacist had been explained in more detail to the participants and if the service would have had a more person-centred focus. More research is needed regarding how to best support geriatric patients with their medication treatment in transitions of care.