Feasibility of a patient engagement and medication safety management program for older adults suffering cardiovascular disease in community settings

OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility of a patient engagement and medication safety management (PE-MSM) program on medication errors, self-efficacy for appropriate medication and activation among older patients suffering cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Chinese communities. METHODS: A patient engagement and medication safety management (PE-MSM) program intervention study was performed. Older patients suffering CVD in the intervention group (n = 62) received PE-MSM program, while the control group (n = 58) took a 12-week medication safety education alone. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, patients having undergone the individualized PE-MSM program achieved lower incidence of medication errors (P < .001), and a statistically significant interaction was identified between treatment groups and assessment time points in terms of the total score of self-efficacy for appropriate medication use scale and the number of patients with different activation levels (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The PE-MSM program is demonstrated to be feasible. Compared with single medication safety education, the PE-MSM program is capable of decreasing the incidence of common medication errors, enhancing the self-efficacy of appropriate medication and the activation of older patients with CVD in a community. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The PE-MSM program is likely to act as a promising medication management model for the routine health care of older patients suffering CVD in communities.