Assessment of patient understanding of their medicines: interviews with community dwelling older Australians

To identify patterns of medication load, client's care team, coordination of healthcare and clients' understanding of their medications.

Face-to-face interviews were conducted with community-dwelling older Australians between June and August 2017 in three community pharmacies in Adelaide, South Australia.

Forty interviews were conducted. On average, participants were taking 7.53 medicines with 77.5% using five or more regularly. Lack of collaboration between healthcare professionals, need for increased communication between prescribers and increased patient education on medicines, were highlighted. This study demonstrates that polypharmacy and inappropriate prescribing are occurring within the community pharmacy setting, but shows insight into how these concerns can be overcome, by implementing pharmacist-led services such as non-dispensing pharmacists in community pharmacies.

Careful consideration when prescribing and effective communication are required to minimise risks associated with polypharmacy in this population.