ArticleBMJ open2021
Empowering the patient? Medication communication during hospital discharge: a qualitative study at an internal medicines ward in Norway.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Remote Monitoring of Patients with Heart Failure: Characteristics of Effective Programs and Implementation Strategies.Vascular health and risk management · 2025Pooled it
- Perspectives on shared decision making related to medications from patients with multiple long-term conditions transitioning from hospital to home: a qualitative study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2026Article
- Co-design of a multifaceted intervention to improve quality handover of medicine information at discharge from hospital.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Facilitators and barriers to medication self-management for patients with multiple long-term conditions transitioning from hospital to home.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Observational
- Patient and family perceptions of a discharge bedside board.PEC innovation · 2023Article
- 'The way you talk, do I have a choice?' Patient narratives of medication decision-making during hospitalization.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2023Article
- Pharmacists in general practice: what do they do? A qualitative case study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Patients' Medication Management during Transition of Care from Hospital to Virtual Care: A Cross-Sectional Survey and Audit.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Towards patient-centred communication in the management of older patients' medications across transitions of care: A focused ethnographic study.Journal of clinical nursing · 2022Article
- Beliefs about Polypharmacy among Home-Dwelling Older Adults Living with Multiple Chronic Conditions, Informal Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals: A Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveEffective communication and patient empowerment before hospital discharge are important steps to ensure medication safety. Patients discharged from hospitals are often expected to assume self-management, frequently without healthcare personnel (HCP) having ensured patients' knowledge, motivation and/or skills. In this substudy of a larger study, we explore how patients experience medication communication during encounters with HCPs and how they are empowered at hospital discharge.
designThis is a qualitative case study. Data collection was done through qualitative observations of patient-HCP encounters, semistructured interviews with patients and drug reconciliation. Data were analysed using content analysis.
settingAn internal medicines ward at a university hospital in Norway.
participantsNine patients aged 49-90 years were included close to the day of discharge.
resultsThe analysis revealed the following themes: (1) patient-centred care (PCC), which included 'understanding and involvement in the patient-as-person', 'establishment of a therapeutic alliance', and 'sharing power and responsibility'; and (2) biomedical (conventional) care, including the subthemes 'HCPs in power and control' and 'optimising medical outcomes, following guidelines'. Even though the elements of PCC were observed in several encounters, overall communication was not sufficiently fostering patient empowerment. Spending time with patients and building relations based on mutual trust seemed undervalued.
conclusionsThe results provide a broader understanding of how patients experience medication communication at hospital discharge. Both the patients and the HCPs appear to be inculcated with biomedical traditions and are uncertain about the roles and opportunities associated with PCC. Attention should be paid to patient preferences and to the core elements of the PCC model from admission to discharge to empower patients in medication self-management.
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