Current Practice in Weekly Pillbox Preparation and Perceived Added Value of Future Collaboration between Community Pharmacists and Home Care Nurses in Belgium

Medication-related errors represent a public health burden but are mainly preventable. A strategy to reduce medication errors could be pharmacist-nurse collaboration in weekly pillbox preparation. Unfortunately, there is little inventory in the literature on the actual pharmacist-nurse collaboration in weekly pillbox preparation and its added value in the healthcare practice. Objective: To assess the weekly pillbox preparation practices among home care nurses and community pharmacists, their collaboration for this service, and its added value, ultimately aiming to promote patient safety. Methods: An extensive survey was launched in French-speaking Belgium in 2022. The study occurred across two populations: home care nurses and community pharmacists in French-speaking Belgium. A self-administered questionnaire was developed. Three main outcomes were reported: the pillbox preparation, the medication plan, and the opinion about the pharmacist-nurse collaboration. A descriptive statistical analysis was carried out. Results: A total of 260 home care nurses and 204 community pharmacists answered the questionnaire. Our survey showed that weekly pillbox preparation was mainly performed by home care nurses (100%) than by community pharmacists (49%) in the primary care of the Belgian health system. There was only sometimes (or even no) remuneration for this service. Most home care nurses (82.7%) and community pharmacists (57.6%) have already pointed out errors in the medication plan used for the weekly pillbox preparation. The pharmacist-nurse collaboration for the weekly pillbox preparation was rare in Belgium. However, the majority of community pharmacists and home care nurses (more than 90% of both groups) would like to collaborate for this act, with the principal motivation of improving patient safety. Conclusion: Our survey showed that pharmacist- nurse collaboration in the weekly pillbox preparation was perceived as helpful in primary care with the ultimate goal of patient safety. Further studies are needed to examine the impact of this intervention and if it could be cost-effective.