Failure to Involve Older Hospitalised Patients in Medication Decisions : A Change of Approach is Called For

Background: Patient involvement in medical-decision making is linked to improved patient outcomes and increased patient satisfaction. Objectives: The aim was to explore how hospitalised older patients are and wish to be involved in medication decisions affecting their medication therapy after hospital discharge. Methods: Naturalistic observations of consultations between healthcare professionals and hospitalised older patients who were about to be discharged were performed at in total three medical wards at two hospitals in Sweden. Subsequent semi-structured interviews with the patients were conducted within one week after discharge. The data were thematically analysed, guided by systematic text condensation. Results: Twenty patients were included (mean age: 81 (SD 8) years, 45 % female). Three themes were identified: 1) Predetermined authoritarian structures; describes that neither patients nor healthcare professionals expected patients to be involved in medication decisions. The medication decisions were frequently already taken by the healthcare professionals prior to the consultations, 2) Difficulties in finding the right time and setting; displays inhibitory factors in patient involvement in medication decisions when the consultations occur in hospital, and 3) Communication focusing on benefits over side-effects; demonstrates that newly prescribed medications were rarely accompanied with information about side-effects. Patients felt they lacked sufficient knowledge to take informed decisions about medications. Conclusions: There are structures limiting involvement of older patients in medication decisions prior to hospital discharge. A change in approach to consultations from both the patients and healthcare professionals is needed to provide patients with the knowledge they feel is needed to be sufficiently involved.