Abstract
Objectives
Pharmacists and general practitioners (GPs) face an increasing expectation to collaborate interprofessionally on a number of healthcare issues, including medication non-adherence. This study aimed to propose a model of interprofessional collaboration within the context of identifying and improving medication non-adherence in primary care.
Setting: Primary care; Sydney, Australia.
Participants 3 focus groups were conducted with pharmacists (n=23) and 3 with GPs (n=22) working in primary care.
Primary and secondary outcomemeasures Qualitative investigation of GP and pharmacist interactions with each other, and specifically around supporting their patients’ medication adherence. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and transcripts thematically analysed using a combination of manual and computer coding.
Results
3 themes pertaining to interprofessional collaboration were identified (1) frequency, (2) co-collaborators and (3) nature of communication which included 2 subthemes (method of communication and type of communication). While the frequency of interactions was low, the majority were conducted by telephone. Interactions, especially those conducted face-to-face, were positive. Only a few related to patient non-adherence. The findings are positioned within contemporary collaborative theory and provide an accessible introduction to models of interprofessional collaboration.
Conclusions
This work highlighted that successful collaboration to improve medication adherence was underpinned by shared paradigmatic perspectives and trust, constructed through regular, face-to-face interactions between pharmacists and GPs.
Citation: Adam P Rathbone, Sarab M Mansoor, Ines Krass, Kim Hamrosi, Parisa Aslani Qualitative study to conceptualise a model of interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and general practitioners to support patients' adherence to medication BMJ Open 2016;6:e010488 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010488
Received 14 November 2015 Revised 9 February 2016 Accepted 22 February 2016 Published 16 March 2016
Copyright: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Contributors
APR conducted secondary thematic analysis of data collected by SMM, PA, KH and IK. The data analysis was checked and discussed with SMM, PA and IK. APR prepared the first draft which was edited and approved by all authors.
Funding
APR was supported by Durham University and AstraZeneca Plc to visit Australia.
Competing interests APR reports grants from AstraZeneca Plc and Durham University, during data analysis and manuscript writing, and grants from AstraZeneca Plc, outside the submitted work.
