Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Families who are caring for a relative who is seriously ill and dying at home need more support from healthcare professionals in order to help manage their medication, according to a new study.
The findings of the study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and led by Professor Kristian Pollock from the University of Nottingham, are published in Palliative Medicine.
When somebody is seriously ill and dying at home, managing their medications can be a difficult and complex task. This is made more difficult given that the care often needs to be given when patients and their families are tired and emotional. Family members are often assumed to be willing and able to support patients with their medication. However, little is known about what these tasks involve or how families cope with them.
In this study, a team of experts explored the views of patients and families managing medications in their homes. The study reports the outcomes of 21 interviews with bereaved family caregivers and 43 interviews with patients and current family caregivers.
The research found:
- More awareness is needed to understand the ways that managing medications add to the considerable burden of care and work that must be undertaken when someone is seriously ill and dying at home;
- Family caregivers are increasingly expected to undertake complex and technical medication tasks formerly carried out by professionals, but with little if any training, supervision or support; this trend has been exacerbated by Covid-19
- The work of managing medications is critical to enabling patients to remain at home at the end of life.
Dr Eleanor Wilson, from the Nottingham Centre for the Advancement of Palliative and End of Life Care (NCARE) in the School of Health Sciences
The findings of the research have implications for practice and policy:
- Health care professionals will benefit from a greater understanding of the complexities of medications management undertaken by patients and families in order to identify and tailor the support they can provide.
- Substantial reduction in the complexity and bureaucracy of Health and Social Care services is needed for them to can be navigable for patients and families managing medications at the end of life.
- The lack of presence of Community Pharmacists in this research suggests there may be a greater role for them in supporting patients and families to manage medications at home.
Our findings show that managing medications at the end of life can be considerable ‘work’. Including practical and physical work of organising, ordering and collecting medications, the emotional work of supporting someone to take their medication and the knowledge-based work of understanding what medications are for, when they should be taken and what side effects they may cause.
This medicines ‘work’ often needs to be done when patients and families are tired, upset and under pressure, so health professionals need to be alert to how much they are asking families to do at this time.”
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More details on the study can be found here.
More information is available from Dr Eleanor Wilson from the School of Health Sciences at the University at Eleanor.wilson@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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