Abstract
Background: With an aging population, the appropriate, effective and safe use of medicines is a global health priority. However, “‘medically under-served” patients continue to experience significant inequalities around access to healthcare services. Aim: This study forms part of a wider project to co-develop and evaluate a digital educational intervention for community pharmacy. The aim of this paper is to explore the medicine needs of patients from marginalized communities and suggest practical way on how services could be better tailored to their requirements. Method: Following ethical approval, qualitative data was gathered from: (1) workshops with patients and professionals (n = 57 attendees); and (2) qualitative semi-structured interviews (10 patients and 10 pharmacists). Results: Our findings revealed that patients from marginalized communities reported poor management of their medical conditions and significant problems with adherence to prescribed medicines. Their experience of pharmacy services was found to be variable with many experiencing discrimination or disadvantage as a result of their status. Discussion: This study highlights the plight of medically under-served communities and the need for policy makers to tailor services to an individual’s needs and circumstances. Furthermore, patients and professionals can work in collaboration using a co-production approach to develop educational interventions for pharmacy service improvements.
Highlights
With an aging population, the appropriate, effective and safe use of medicines is a global health policy priority [1]
The aim of this paper is to explore the medicine taking experiences and needs of patients from marginalized communities, and suggest practical way on how services could be better tailored to their requirements
Our findings show that people who are medically under-served may be experiencing significant health and medicine challenges that are going unnoticed
Summary
The appropriate, effective and safe use of medicines is a global health policy priority [1]. The aim of this paper is to explore the medicine needs of patients from marginalized communities and suggest practical way on how services could be better tailored to their requirements. Results: Our findings revealed that patients from marginalized communities reported poor management of their medical conditions and significant problems with adherence to prescribed medicines. Their experience of pharmacy services was found to be variable with many experiencing discrimination or disadvantage as a result of their status. Patients and professionals can work in collaboration using a co-production approach to develop educational interventions for pharmacy service improvements. Previous experiences/frequency of undertaking MURs with patients from an under-served community. What participants want to achieve from undertaking the service? Are there any people who are avoided?
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