Background and importance More than 60% of prescription are not suitable for crushing, but the medicines may be crushed for patients for home care and in medical institutions. To reduce incorrect methods of taking medicines, we provided caregivers who fully understood tube feeding, knowledge and skills, using illustrated materials, to explain the correct methods of taking medicine before discharge from hospital.

Aim and objectives To improve the knowledge and skills of caregivers in tube feeding by providing illustrated materials for drug education in the discharge planning service and then home care, to achieve seamless pharmaceutical care.

Material and methods From October to December 2018, candidates were identified through screening information from the hospital information system for tube feeding. After excluding those unable to communicate or illiterate, specific tube feeding medication counselling was provided to caregivers. Questionnaires were filled out before and after the educational intervention. The study was conducted with the approval of Taipei City Hospital research ethics committee (TCHIRB-10703101).

Results Forty caregivers were enrolled in the study with an average age of 56.6 years and 67.5% were women. Lung infections were present in 42.5% of patients and 47.5% of patients had tube feeding during hospitalisation for the first time. The questionnaire was made up of four items: frequency of drug administration, identification of crushed medicine, obstruction of pipeline and risk of crushing. Each item was given a score of 1 to 3. Knowledge assessment of medication tube feeding (knowledge and skill) was significantly increased after drug education (7.33±2.54 vs 9.78±1.99, p<0.001).

Conclusion and relevance The data indicated that illustrated materials were good for patient education. We suggest that the tube feeding knowledge and skill should be widely used to increase patient drug safety and use correctly.

References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.