‘Really putting a different slant on my use of a glass of wine’: patient perspectives on integrating alcohol into structured medication reviews in general practice

Madden, Mary, Stewart, Duncan and McCambridge, Jim (2023) ‘Really putting a different slant on my use of a glass of wine’: patient perspectives on integrating alcohol into structured medication reviews in general practice. Addiction Research & Theory. pp. 1-9. ISSN 1476-7392

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2023.2207017

Abstract / Description

Background:
Alcohol is often overlooked in primary care even though it has wide-ranging impacts. The Structured Medication Review (SMR) in England is a new ‘holistic’ service designed to tackle problematic polypharmacy, delivered by clinical pharmacists in a general practice setting. Implementation has been protracted owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores early patient experiences of the SMR and views on the acceptability of integrating clinical attention to alcohol as another drug linked to their conditions and medicines, rather than as a standalone ‘healthy living’ or ‘lifestyle’ question.

Method:
Semi-structured interviews with a sample of 10 patients who drank alcohol twice or more each week, recruited to the study by five clinical pharmacists during routine SMR delivery.

Results:
SMRs received were remote, brief, and paid scant attention to alcohol. Interviewees were interested in the possibility of receiving integrated attention to alcohol within a SMR that was similar to the service specification. They saw alcohol inclusion as congruent with the aims of a holistic medicines review linked to their medical history. For some, considering alcohol as a drug impacting on their medications and the conditions for which they were prescribed, introduced a new frame for thinking about their own drinking.

Conclusions:
Including alcohol in SMRs and changing the framing of alcohol away from a brief check with little meaningful scope for discussion, toward being fully integrated within the consultation, was welcomed as a concept by participants in this study. This was not their current medication review experience.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: alcohol; clinical pharmacy; medicines review; primary health care; brief intervention
Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
Department: School of Social Sciences and Professions
Depositing User: Duncan Stewart
Date Deposited: 25 Apr 2023 08:38
Last Modified: 13 Oct 2023 15:15
URI: https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/id/eprint/8483

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