[Management of complex medication regimes in chronic illness - challenges and support needs from the health...

While chronic illness are mostly treated with pharmaceutical means, the management of medication regimes in everyday life often remains inadequate, especially for elderly people. In Germany, most efforts to change this situation focus on the role of physicians or pharmacists respectively. In contrast, this study concentrates on home care nurses and posits their potential to improve the management of complex medication regimes. To explore the professional's view 26 expert interviews with representatives of the different healthcare professions were conducted and analysed. The results indicate that regardless of their profession, all interviewees see a need to modify existing medication regimes and share the view that there is a necessity of communicative and educational support of patients. They also agree that improvements in the management of medication require a multi-professional approach and that home care nurses could provide substantial support to chronically ill in managing their daily medication regimes. Nevertheless, the experts also report structural and professional barriers to hinder professionals in meeting these demands. We conclude that an enhancement of nurses' clinical and educational skills is inevitable, if they are to support chronically ill in managing their daily medication regimes in cooperation with other professions.