“I just don’t want to take up people’s time” - A qualitative study exploring psychological safety during patient–healthcare provider conversations about medications (August 2026)

Summary

Psychologically safe environments, in which patients feel respected, able to ask questions, and comfortable raising concerns, are key aspects of person-centred care and overall quality of care. Examining the psychological aspect of managing medications remains underexplored despite its potential to improve patient safety and quality of care. To date, there is limited research on the perceptions of psychological safety among patients when discussing medications with their healthcare providers (HCPs). To address this gap, the authors of this study explored perceptions of patient psychological safety during clinical encounters for medication management within primary and community care settings.

Content

The Patient Psychological Safety framework, which includes the constructs of ‘Patient Belonging’ (feeling accepted), ‘Patient Learning’ (feeling encouraged to ask questions), and ‘Patient Participating’ (feeling safe to share opinions), was used to guide a secondary deductive content analysis.

Within ‘Patient Belonging’, participants described that feeling heard by HCPs supported perceptions of safety, whereas being dismissed contributed to mistrust. For ‘Patient Learning’, participants indicated that clear and contextualised medication communication reduced anxiety and distress; in contrast, feeling overwhelmed, embarrassed or anxious during healthcare encounters acted as barriers to learning. For ‘Patient Participating’, participants reported feeling empowered when invited to engage in medication-related decision-making, while perceived exclusion by HCPs led to frustration and disengagement.

The authors concluded that sychological safety is integral to effective conversations about medications between patients and HCPs. Fostering environments in which patients feel heard, respected, and able to contribute to clinical decision-making may reduce distress and support engagement in medication treatment decisions. Future work should examine strategies to address multi-level barriers to promoting psychologically safe healthcare encounters around medications