Carer Assessment of medicaTion management guidanCe for people living with dementia at Hospital discharge (CATCH): A national cross‐sectional survey
Mouna J Sawan, Alexander J Clough, Ardalan J Mirzaei, Yun‐Hee Jeon, Carl R Schneider, Danijela Gnjidic, Timothy Chen- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Neurology (clinical)
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Health Policy
- Epidemiology
Abstract
Introduction
Transitions of care are a major contributing factor to medication‐related adverse events in people with dementia. There is limited knowledge on how well guidance on medication management is provided to carers at hospital discharge, and there is no tool that comprehensively reports on medication management guidance at discharge. The study aim was to evaluate carers’ experiences of medication management guidance for people with dementia at hospital discharge and explore the underlying factors of the CATCH tool as preliminary validation of the tool.
Methods
A cross‐sectional survey of the CATCH tool was distributed across Australia between March and November 2022. The CATCH tool contained 30 Likert‐type items and three dichotomous (yes/no) items. The results of the survey were analysed descriptively, and exploratory factor and regression analyses were performed.
Results
A total of 185 survey responses were completed (completion rate 66.8%). Most respondents were informal carers (n = 116, 62.7%), and were predominantly provided medication management guidance on the day of discharge (n = 79, 42.7%). One‐third (n = 61, 33.0%) responded that medication management guidance could be improved. Regarding the safe use of medications, respondents felt information was not well provided on: medications that may interact with each other (n = 30, 17.6%), possible side‐effects of medications (n = 28,16.1%), and medications that might act on the brain (n = 27, 15.8%). Thirty respondents (17.8%) reported that they were not included in decisions by hospital staff about medications for people with dementia. The CATCH tool contained two factors: 1) person‐centred guidance in the safe use of medications during and after discharge; and 2) support of carers in medication management. Internal consistency of all factors were acceptable with Cronbach’s alpha (>0.8). The carer reported measure of how medication management guidance is provided is positively related to their confidence in management of medications post‐discharge and satisfaction (p< 0.05 for both).
Conclusion
Opportunities to improve delivery of person‐focused medication management guidance involve provision of information on the safe use of medications to the carer and engagement in medication decisions. The CATCH tool is the first scale developed that evaluates person‐centred medication management guidance and support provided to carers of people with dementia at discharge.