PURPOSE For depressed older primary care patients, this study aimed to examine (a) characteristics associated with depression treatment preferences; (b) predictors of receiving preferred treatment; and (c) whether receiving preferred treatment predicted satisfaction and depression outcomes. DESIGN AND METHODS Data are from 1,602 depressed older primary care patients who participated in a mult...

Successful team care requires a shared understanding of roles and expertise. This paper describes the development and preliminary exploration of the psychometric properties of a tool designed to measure contributions to family practice medication-related processes. Our team identified medication-related processes commonly occurring in family practice. We assessed clinical appropriateness using ...

Medication adherence has a cumulative effect on people’s health and wellbeing and reduces the reliance on health and social care services. This paper reviews the London Borough of Lambeth’s assistive technology service, which is occupational therapy led and includes the use of electronic medication dispensers as part of innovative intervention in support of medication adherence. The paper gives...

BACKGROUND Adverse drug events are a leading cause of emergency department visits and unplanned admissions, and prolong hospital stays. Medication review interventions aim to identify adverse drug events and optimize medication use. Previous evaluations of in-hospital medication reviews have focused on interventions at discharge, with an unclear effect on health outcomes. We assessed the effect...

Background Improving medication adherence across the health care system is a vital component to improving patient outcomes and reducing downstream health care costs. Research suggests that pharmacists can be a highly effective tool for improving medication adherence when equipped with knowledge and skills on conducting adherence screenings and interventions. The objective of this large scale ph...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND Medication administration errors in patient care have been shown to be frequent and serious. Such errors are particularly prevalent in highly technical specialties such as the intensive care unit (ICU). In Ethiopia, the prevalence of medication administration errors in the ICU is not studied. OBJECTIVE To assess medication administration errors in the intensive care u...

We designed the Pre-Admission Medication List (PAML) Builder medication reconciliation application and implemented it at two academic hospitals. We asked 1,714 users to complete a survey of their satisfaction with the application and analyzed factors associated with user efficiency. The survey was completed by 626 (36.5%) users. Most (64%) responders agreed that medication reconciliation improv...

In this article, the authors highlight an incident that involved a mix-up between the oral anticoagulant medication Pradax (dabigatran etexilate) and the antiplatelet medication Plavix (clopidogrel). Because critical care nurses may admit or care for patients who are receiving (or have received) one of these medications, it is important that they be aware of the potential for confusion between ...

The transmission of bloodborne viruses and other microbial pathogens to patients during routine health care procedures continues to occur because of the use of improper injection, infusion, medication vial, and point-of-care testing practices by health care personnel. These unsafe practices occur in various clinical settings and result in unacceptable and devastating events for patients. This d...