Overview

Inappropriate use of medicines harms patients' health and increases healthcare costs. When healthcare professionals and patients engage together, healthcare can be based on the patient perspective, so the use of medicines is better tailored to each patient's needs and preferences. The result is a better relationship between patients and healthcare professionals, more appropriate medicines use, improved patient outcomes, and reduced healthcare costs. This course explores patient perspectives on medicine use. Through videos, readings, and quizzes, it informs about the importance of patients’ perspectives on medicines, teaches about the patient’s lived experiences with medicines and mismatch in how healthcare professionals and patients view medicines, and introduces the methods that can be used to explore patients perspectives on medicines. Through discussions, you’ll be encouraged to reflect on the patient perspective on medicines in relation to your own professional context. This course was developed collaboratively by scholars from the Universities of Copenhagen, Groningen, and Oslo, as well as Trinity College Dublin. Drawing on their extensive experience in teaching, research, and professional practice, they worked together to distill the most important elements of interviewing patients about their perspectives on medication. The team includes Susanne Kaae, Lourdes Cantarero-Arevalo, Katja Taxis, Anne Gerd Granas, Anna Birna Almarsdóttir, Lotte S. Nørgaard, Sofia K. Sporrong, Johanne M. Hansen, Martin C. Henman, Solveig N. Jacobsen, and Ramune Jacobsen. The course is related to 'Patient Perspectives on Medications: Qualitative Interviews', which is also available on Coursera, but each course can be taken independently.

Syllabus

Why is the patient perspective important?

This module will give an overview of society-wide challenges related to medicines use. You will learn why it is important to understand the patient perspective on medicines use, and be introduced to issues that will be discussed during the course, such as patients’ perspectives versus professionals’ perspectives on medicines use.

Patient stories

In this module you will learn about patients’ views on medicines use and how medicines are incorporated in their daily lives. You will be introduced to a model summarizing different aspects of the patient perspective on medicines use. You will also meet patients who will tell about their personal experiences with medicines use.

The professional perspective

In this module you will learn that the patient's rationality regarding medicines use is not always in sync with the professionals’ rationality. You will be introduced to various ways of how healthcare professionals evaluate the patient perspective on medicines use. This relates to satisfaction, patients’ attitudes towards medicines, as well as knowledge of, and behavior related to medicines. Lastly, the module will enable you to reflect upon your own assumptions about patients’ medicine use.

How to apply and explore the patient perspective

In this module, you will be presented with examples of how the patient perspective has been implemented into health policy and healthcare practice. You will get acquainted with different aspects of the qualitative interview – a method you can use to explore the patient perspective in depth. Lastly, you will reflect on how to use this knowledge in your professional setting. Please note! This week you must hand in a graded assignment and review three assignments from fellow students.