Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The main objective was to develop a policy for the management of patients' own medications (POM) in a tertiary university hospital and to evaluate the outcomes of its implementation. The secondary objective was to explore the effects of introducing a policy on the incidence and severity of drug-related problems (DRPs). METHODS: The implementation evaluation was based on the mixed method using the RE-AIM model (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance). Each POM was analysed to identify the cause and severity of the DRP (pre-implementation and after 1 week, 3 months and 1 year). Three months after the implementation, an interview with hospital providers explored barriers and facilitators of the POM management policy as well as factors impacting the programme's sustainability. RESULTS: 205 patients were included pre-implementation, and over the three post-implementation periods, a total of 586 additional patients were included in the quantitative study. 17 interviews were conducted. Approximately 60% of the included patients brought their POM to the hospital during each period (reach). There was a statistically significant decrease in the percentage of POM self-administered (p<0.001), the percentage of POM used by nurses to administer doses (p<0.001), the rate (p=0.005) and severity (p=0.008) of DRP when compared with the situation before and after 1 week and 3 months of policy implementation (effectiveness, implementation). The rate (p=0.074) and severity (p=0.062) of DRP decrease after 1 year of policy implementation was not significant (maintenance). CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a POM management policy and highlights the unique challenges of implementing and, in particular, maintaining it in the hospital setting. A POM management policy reduces the incidence and severity of DRP caused by POM if the policy is fully communicated and staff are appropriately trained.