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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Digital Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1486814

Proximity Care Pathways and Digitalization: Opportunities and Concerns for Medication Safety Management-Insights from the ProSafe Study on Community Perspectives

Provisionally accepted
Francesca Moretti Francesca Moretti 1*Maria Angela Mazzi Maria Angela Mazzi 1Sara Montresor Sara Montresor 2Silvia Colpo Silvia Colpo 2Ilaria Tocco Tussardi Ilaria Tocco Tussardi 2Daniela Facchinello Daniela Facchinello 3Raffaella Robello Raffaella Robello 3Luigi Ambroso Luigi Ambroso 4Cristina Destro Cristina Destro 5Salvatore Leone Salvatore Leone 6Davide Petruzzelli Davide Petruzzelli 7Michela Rimondini Michela Rimondini 1Ugo Moretti Ugo Moretti 2
  • 1 Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
  • 2 Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
  • 3 Roche S.p.A., Monza (Monza e Brianza), Italy
  • 4 Federazione delle Associazioni Emofilici ONLUS – FEDEMO, Roma, Italy
  • 5 Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe – WALCE, Orbassano (Torino), Italy
  • 6 Associazione Nazionale per le Malattie Infiammatorie Croniche dell'Intestino (Colite Ulcerosa e Malattia di Crohn) - A.M.I.C.I. ETS, Milano, Italy
  • 7 La Lampada di Aladino ETS, Brugherio (Monza e Brianza), Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Establishing proximity care pathways, including the digitalization of healthcare, is valuable for sustainable management of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Patient-Centered Care (PCC) promotion. However, new safety concerns, particularly in therapy management, may arise. The Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) "ProSafe" aims at i) explore stakeholders' perspectives on medication safety management in proximity care and ii) analyze which determinants affect the community's perspective. Results: 417 individuals completed the survey (81.0% affected by a disease). A positive attitude towards shifting therapy administration from hospital to home setting was observed even if a significantly higher proportion of patients compared to healthy individuals raised concerns regarding a potential negative impact on the doctor-patient relationship (47,0% vs 32,9%, p<0,01). Additionally, 63,7% of patients reported they would feel less supported in the care process. The usefulness of telehealth, including tele-pharmacy for drug therapy management, was rated higher by healthy individuals compared to patients (mean value 1,3 vs. 1,5 p < 0.01); 43,9% of patients raised concerns regarding the excessive responsibility placed on them in digital care compared to traditional healthcare. Health status and level of education were the variables most frequently associated with significant impacts across multiple outcomes.The community's perspective on the development of proximity care pathways provided valuable insights into concerns, fears, and limitations that could impact the effectiveness of this important shift in healthcare delivery. Effectively addressing these issues effectively is essential to truly bring disease and medication management closer to patients and their living environments while ensuring that the community becomes co-creators in the implementation of proximity care, fostering health equity and patient autonomy.

    Keywords: proximity care1, medication safety2, community engagement3, community perspective4, digitalization of care5, health service planning6, Participative research

    Received: 03 Sep 2024; Accepted: 06 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Moretti, Mazzi, Montresor, Colpo, Tussardi, Facchinello, Robello, Ambroso, Destro, Leone, Petruzzelli, Rimondini and Moretti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Francesca Moretti, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.