Medication transitions: Vulnerable periods of change in need of human factors and ergonomics.

Abstract We present a novel view of transitions from the lens of patient ergonomics (the “science of patient work”), which posits that patients and other non-professionals perform effortful work towards health-related goals. In patient work transitions, patients experience changes in, for example, health, task demands, work capacity, roles and responsibilities, knowledge and skills, routines, needs and technologies. Medication transitions are a particularly vulnerable type of patient work transitions. We describe two cases of medication transitions—new medications and medication deprescribing—in which the patient work lens reveals many accompanying changes, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for human factors and ergonomics.