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Limited strategies exist to help older patients be engaged with their medications during transitions of care in hospital. Two resources were co-designed in collaboration with older patients; a medication question prompt, and an information brochure explaining points in a hospital journey where medications can be discussed. This paper presents results of a feasibility and acceptability study, testing these resources to improve medication engagement during transitions of care for older patients. We recruited older patients (≥65 years) from a Victorian hospital service, who were randomised to receive the intervention or usual care. We assessed feasibility by assessing recruitment rate, number of participants who used the intervention, contamination, and completeness of data collected. Acceptability was assessed using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability, with a score greater than 80% considered acceptable. We measured emergency department presentations and readmission rates as secondary outcomes. We recruited 53 patients, which was 44% of all eligible participants approached (120). Thirteen were lost to follow-up, and we had 20 participants in each group with complete data (n=40). In all, 64% of intervention participants used the resources at least once, and there was no contamination in the usual care group. Acceptability scores were over 80% for each resource. Hospital readmission rates were lower in the intervention group compared to usual care. Co-designed resources were acceptable by participants. Rehospitalisation rates warrant further investigation in a sufficiently powered larger randomised-control study to confirm its impact. Adjustments to improve feasibility for future studies include increasing recruitment rate and enhancing uptake of resources.
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