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.