Table 2 Characteristics of included studies
First author & date | Journal | Aim | Sampling Method | n = | Location | Data collection | Analysis | Quality rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barry (2013) | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28, 1077-1085. | To explore community pharmacists’ experiences with and attitudes towards people with dementia (focussed on pain). | Purposive | Community pharmacists: 182 | Northern Ireland | Questionnaire | Descriptive analyses and Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test | 50% |
Fiss (2013) | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28, 173-181. | To analyse the occurrence of Potentially Inappropriate Medication (PIM) taken by elderly individuals in the AGnES studies in primary care. | Convenience | Patients: 342 | Germany | German PRISCUS list | Phi coefficient and multiple binary logistic regression analysis | 75% |
Gillespie (2015) | Dementia, 14, 47-62. | The study aimed to explore the views of ethnic minority informal caregivers of people living with dementia and their medicines management experience including the adequacy of their access to medication management information and support. | Purposive | Caregivers: 29 | Australia | Focus groups and individual interviews | Thematic analysis | 50% |
Kaasalainen (2011) | Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness, 3, 407-418. | The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the personal experiences related to medicines management of community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with dementia, their informal caregivers and healthcare professionals who assist them. | Theoretical sampling | Community health nurses: 10 Pharmacists: 10 Family Physicians: 6 Informal caregivers: 20 People with dementia: 11 | Canada | Interviews | Grounded theory | 50% |
Maidment (2017) | Health Expectations, 20, 929-942. | To describe and understand the key challenges, in relation to medication issues, experienced by people with dementia and their informal carers dwelling in the community and the potential role of community pharmacists | Purposive and snowball effect | Informal carers: 11 GPs: 4 Nurses: 5 Social care professionals: 3 Community pharmacists: 4 People with dementia: 4 | UK | Interviews | Framework analysis | 75% |
McKenzie (2013) | American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & other Dementias, 28, 348-354. | The primary aim of this article is to report the implementation and adoption of the Safe Home Program and the caregiver assessments of these technologies and devices to determine which one may be used to support caregivers. | Purposive | People with dementia: 60 | USA | Questionnaires and interviews | Not specified | 75% |
Poland (2014) | BMC Research Notes, 7, 463. | The paper aims primarily to describe the Public Patient Involvement process which was intended to inform the development of a future research proposal | Purposive | Carers: 9 | UK | Focus group | Thematic analysis | 100% |
Smith (2014) | International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 23, 44-51. | The aims of this study were to examine the scope and range of medicines related assistance provided by informal carers of people with dementia, the problems that arise and to identify how service provision could become more responsive to these needs. | Convenience | Carers: 14 Care-recipients: 5 | UK | Interviews | A framework analysis | 75% |
While (2012) | Dementia, 12, 734-750. | This paper examines the perspectives of the person with dementia and their carers to explore if there are any significant differences in their medicines management experiences when compared to older adults without dementia and their carers. | Purposive and snowballing approach | People with dementia: 8 Informal carers: 9 | Australia | Interviews | Thematic data analysis and critical analysis | 75% |