Technology While working as a palliative care case manager, the incidence of medication non-adherence among young adult patients was a constant concern. Often these patients had been ill since childhood and had their parents managing most of their care for many years. When asked why a medication was missed, caregivers and patients alike often indicated that they simply forgot. Once the patient was an adult, there would often be an adjustment of responsibility from the parent to the patient related to the management of the medication administration.
The use of a medication reminder application was implemented with the hope of improving the medication compliance rates among these young adult patients. The application was placed on the patient’s…show more content… The patients also verbalized an understanding of the indications for each medication as well as the possible side effects. The data loaded into the patient record provided the information needed by the physicians and pharmacists to adjust the patient's medications to the lowest effective dose. By providing information related to the amount of medication used on a daily basis, the interdisciplinary team has the opportunities to address any potential patient compliance issue or change in medication use pattern in a timely fashion with undue delay.
References
Hammonds, T., Rickert, K., Goldstein, C., Gathright, E., Gilmore, S., Derflinger, B., ... Hughes, J. W. (2015). Adherence to Antidepressant Medications: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Medication Reminding in College Students. Journal of American College Health, 63(3), 204-208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2014.975716
Mendys, P., Zullig, L. L., Burkholder, R., Granger, B. B., & Bosworth, H. B. (2014). Medication adherence: Process for implementation. Patient Preference and Adherence, 8, 1025-1034.
