Abstract
AIM: To explore what healthcare staff and staff in pharmacies experiences, as challenges, and possibilities in handling and use medications by foreign-born persons or their relatives, and how necessary information is exchanged between different units in the healthcare chain to prevent medication errors. DESIGN: A qualitative explorative single-unit case study in a primary healthcare centre, with connected home care and pharmacies in an immigrant-dense area. METHODS: Individual semi-structured interviews with 17 respondents, including pharmacists, physicians and registered nurses, were conducted between May and December 2022, in Sweden. Inductive qualitative content analysis was applied. RESULTS: Six categories were identified: limited knowledge about medications, lack of knowledge about the Swedish system for medication prescriptions and pharmacy regulations, insufficient time to develop trusting relations, communication to support medication management, tools for facilitating safe use of medications and problems in exchange of information in the healthcare chain. CONCLUSION: Good communication is both a challenge and a prerequisite for safe medication management by well-informed patients. To ensure patient safety, it is crucial to establish ways to communicate with patients about their medications, regardless of their language skills. Improving communication within the healthcare chain is essential to prevent medication errors. IMPLICATION FOR THE PROFESSION AND PATIENT CARE: Understanding the complexity of medication management and preventing medication errors requires staff to communicate effectively with patients at all steps in the healthcare chain to identify their informational and educational needs. IMPACT: This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the importance of communication within the healthcare chain, including prescribing physicians, nurses, pharmacists and patients, to prevent medication errors. REPORTING METHOD: COREQ checklist. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This study focused on staff at a healthcare centre and two pharmacies.