Reducing Medication Problems among Minority Individuals with Low Socioeconomic Status through Pharmacist Home Visits

Introduction: In this study, pharmacists conducted home visits for individuals of medically underserved populations in Taiwan (i.e., socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, middle-aged or older adults, and individuals living alone, with dementia, or with disabilities) to understand their medication habits. We quantified medication problems among various groups and investigated whether the pharmacist home visits helped to reduce the medication problems. Materials and Methods: From April 2016 to March 2019, pharmacists visited the homes of the aforementioned medically underserved individuals in Taipei to evaluate their drug-related problems and medication problems. Age, living alone, diagnoses of dementia or disabilities, and socioeconomic disadvantages contributed significantly to inadequate disease and medical treatment knowledge and self-care skills as well as lifestyle inappropriateness among patients. The patients who were living alone and socioeconomically disadvantaged stored their drugs in inappropriate environments. Results: After the pharmacists visited the patients’ homes twice, the patients improved considerably in their disease and medical treatment knowledge, self-care skills, and lifestyles (p < 0.001). Problems related to the uninstructed reduction or discontinuation of drug use (p < 0.05) and use of expired drugs (p < 0.001) were also mitigated substantially. Discussion and conclusion: Through the home visits, the pharmacists came to fully understand the medicine (including Chinese medicine) and health food usage behaviors of the patients and their lifestyles, enabling them to provide thorough health education. After the pharmacists’ home visits, the patients’ drug-related problems were mitigated, and their knowledge of diseases, drug compliance, and drug storage methods and environments improved, reducing drug waste. Our findings can help policymakers address the medication problems of various medically underserved groups, thereby improving the utilization of limited medical resources.