Challenges and barriers faced by caregivers involved in pediatric medication management

Background: Medication use in children has many complicating factors. The healthcare system, alongside non-professional caregivers (NPCs), must learn to navigate these complexities and barriers to provide adequate medication management for children.  

Objective: The larger qualitative health research study aims to identify and describe the challenges and barriers of NPCs in Saskatchewan related to pediatric medication management. The objective of this pilot study was to gain experience using the interview guide and make any revisions that may be needed for richer responses.

Methods: This study will utilize the interpretative description design utilizing semi-structured interviews. In this pilot study, we conducted one interview with a participant that met our inclusion criteria. We have also consulted with a pharmacist and with pediatricians to improve the interview guide.  We will then inductively code each barrier identified by participants using NVivo, and we will group these each into the major themes found. 

Results: We have piloted our interview with one NPC. From this interview, we found the main themes to be consistent with those found in a previously conducted scoping review. We also amended the interview guide to better reflect the flow of conversation that will help us capture detailed descriptions of caregivers’ experiences.