Families are struggling to use medicines at home — we must truly involve them in their own safety (26 February 2021)

Summary

How do we know how a patient is coping with their medicines once they have left our care? How do we know that they are using their medicines safely at home?

Surprisingly few medicine errors in children in the home setting are reported, yet evidence suggests that parents sometimes struggle here. We can tackle this hidden medicines safety issue by putting families’ insight at the heart of our interventions.

We have to ask. And not least for our infant, children and young adult patients, and their families. Medicines use in this patient group has long been known to be challenging, and many families continue to struggle to use medicines safely at home. But a collaborative approach between healthcare professionals and families can remedy this.