Mindful organizing in patients’ contributions to primary care medication safety

Phipps, Denham L.; Giles, Sally; Lewis, Penny J.; Marsden, Kate; Salema, Ndeshi; Jeffries, Mark; Avery, Anthony J.; Ashcroft, Darren M.

Abstract

Background: There is a need to ensure that the risks associated with medication usage in primary healthcare are controlled. To maintain an understanding of the risks, healthcare organizations may engage in a process known as “mindful organizing”. While this is typically conceived of as involving organizational members, it may in the healthcare context also include patients. Our study aimed to examine ways in which patients might contribute to mindful organizing with respect to primary care medication safety.

Method: Qualitative focus groups and interviews were carried out with 126 members of the public in North-West England and the East Midlands. Participants were taking medicines for a long-term health condition, taking several medicines, had previously encountered problems with their medication, or were caring for another person in any of these categories. Participants described their experiences of dealing with medication-related concerns. The transcripts were analysed using a thematic method.

Results: We identified four themes to explain patient behaviour associated with mindful organizing: knowledge about clinical or system issues; artefacts that facilitate control of medication risks; communication with healthcare professionals; and the relationship between patients and the healthcare system (in particular, mutual trust).

Conclusions: Mindful organizing is potentially useful for framing patient involvement in safety, although there are some conceptual and practical issues to be addressed before it can be fully exploited in this setting. We have identified factors that influence (and be strengthened by) patients’ engagement in mindful organizing, and as such would be a useful focus of efforts to support patient involvement.

Citation

Phipps, D. L., Giles, S., Lewis, P. J., Marsden, K., Salema, N., Jeffries, M., …Ashcroft, D. M. (2018). Mindful organizing in patients’ contributions to primary care medication safety. Health Expectations, 21(6), 964-972. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12689

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 4, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 14, 2018
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 14, 2018
• Journal: Health Expectations
• Print ISSN: 1369-6513
• Electronic ISSN: 1369-7625
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 964-972
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12689
• Keywords: Primary Care; Patient Safety; Mindful Organizing
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/925248
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/hex.12689
• Related Public URLs: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/