A qualitative study exploring issues related to medication management in residential aged care facilities

Globally, the population of older people is on the rise. As families are burdened with the high cost of care for aging members, demand is increasing for medical care and nursing homes. Thus, medication management is crucial to ensure that residents in a care center benefit and assist the management of the care center in reducing the burden of health care. This study is aimed to qualitatively explore issues related to medication management in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).

A total of 11 stakeholders comprising health care providers, administrators, caretakers and residents were recruited from a list of registered government, nongovernmental organization and private RACFs in Malaysia from September 2016 to April 2017. An exploratory qualitative study adhering to Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies was conducted. In-depth interview was conducted with consent of all participants, and the interviews were audio recorded for later verbatim transcription. Observational analysis was also conducted in a noninterfering manner.

Three themes, namely medication use process, personnel handling medications and culture, emerged in this study. Medication use process highlighted an unclaimed liability for residents' medication by the RACFs, whereas personnel handling medications were found to lack sufficient training in medication management. Culture of the organization did affect the medication safety and quality improvement. The empowerment of the residents in their medication management was limited. There were unclear roles and responsibility of who manages the medication in the nongovernment-funded RACFs, although they were well structured in the private nursing homes.

There are important issues related to medication management in RACFs which require a need to establish policy and guidelines.