Medication adherence has been identified as a significant challenge in the care of patients with chronic ailment requiring the use of medications for extended periods. Over half of patients who have been prescribed pharmacological medications such as those with hypertension or diabetes. Medical non-adherence comes with a high cost. For instance, in 2016, the approximated cost of mortality and morbidity related to the resulting reduced usage of prescribed medicine was about $530. Adherence to medical subscriptions can be viewed from three perspectives
Underuse of prescribed medications deprives the patient of the expected positive outcomes, potentially leading to a deterioration of the condition or causing other medical complications.
For instance, non-adherence to hyper hypertensive medications is linked to unnecessary hospitalization, which otherwise would not have occurred had the patient taken them properly. The overuse of drugs may result in adverse drug reactions. For example, overindulging antimigraine drugs may lead to dizziness, nausea, and cardiovascular complications.
In a study, Interviewed individuals revealed that taste of liquid medicine was not appealing to the patients . in another study, 18 patients were uneducated 47% of patients were not informed of the side effects of pharmacological medications and seven out of ten were not aware that missing medications could cause negative impacts while
six were not involved in physical activities.
Non-adherence becomes more pronounced when the treatment takes place for an extended period.
What are the health care provider factors likely to affect medication adherence? A study revealed that HIV patients indicated that many patients fail to comply with their medications with time. It is, therefore, critical for medical practitioners to evaluate adherence behaviours of pertinent together with non-adherence interventions for noncompliant patients.
Side effects can be a challenge for many patients, and in some cases, they can be worse than the disease itself, which may be having a few symptoms. Some medications may cause adverse effects such as vomiting and nausea, which may be so upsetting to some patients such that they do not take them strictly. Some drugs may cause sexual dysfunction may trigger noncompliance in some patients. Poor compliance has been observed mostly on patients with chronic conditions that are
asymptomatic such as hypertension.
Financial may cause some people to resort to a form rationing such abs cost-related non-adherence.
It is essential to realize that noncompliance issues are accompanied by
Medical practitioners are informed of medical non-adherence among patients with chronic illness. However, they may contribute to this non-adherence. They may prescribe complicated combinations, do not advise patients on the benefits or the adverse effects of prescribed medications, and also do net into perspective the financial challenges the patients are facing. Inappropriate communication between the patient and the primary care providers makes patients with chronic ailments comprehend the functioning and the importance of medications.
Moreover, physicians may not consider the history of alternatives, including herbal and supplemental treatments in many cases, communication between the physician and the patient is not sufficient.
It is Only one five hospitalizations where the medical practitioners have a direct conversation with the patients and in less than 35% of discharge cases that discharge information was provided. Insufficient discussions between the patient and the physician and consultants may lead to medication errors and many unnecessary hospital readmissions (Brown & Bussell, 2011).
Outline THREE suitable strategies to overcome health care provider initiated
barriers to improving medication adherence for patients with multiple chronic
diseases.
There is no one clear-cut intervention that can be effective in enhancing long-term medication compliance, considering the challenges associated with medication adherence.
Nevertheless, medical professionals can take measures to promote a patient’s medication attitudes and subsequent results.
Individualized approaches
First, clinicians can prescribe the maximum number of that can be taken at a particular situation to discourage recurrent visits to the hospital or pharmacy, taking into consideration the patient’s financial condition and enhancing adherence by improving economic barriers. To address aherarache associated with administering a high number of daily doses, clinicians should consider prescribing fixed dose regimes if applicable.
Behavioural strategies
An individually tailored approach is, in most cases, brings the best outcome. With the advancements in technology can a boosting adherence. Phone alarms can configure to produce an alarm to serve as a reminder for taking medicine. Text messaging enhances communication between the clinicians and the patients to be reminded to take their medications. Moreover, adherence-designed apps can be secured at a allow cost and can address multiple issues. These apps also have the advantage of keeping the medication data of the patients.
Patient education
Imparting skills and knowledge through education can be instrumental in enhancing medication adherence. Patients need to be mentored on the nature of chronic illnesses, which would foster adherence. Patients need to be educated on the impacts of substance use during medication, the long-term impacts of prescribed drugs, the mental effects of long-term use of medications,
and side effects of continued use of medication (Chacko et al., 2010).
Evaluating adherence
If clinicians are not able to identify non-adherence, it is not possible to find a solution to the challenge. It is, therefore, crucial that healthcare professionals determine and asses patient adherence critically. Adherence evaluation can be undertaken by self-reports, monitoring doses, and in some instances, investigating the degree of serum in the urine or serum. The self-report is the one that has been the most widely used. Patient reporting has been found to be effective in providing information on whether they are adhering to their medical formula when they are asked.
Simple questions can be a guide in getting adherence information from patients. This questionnaires designed by Morisky and others were
employed in predicting adherence in hypertensive individuals whore has been under treatment for high blood pressure for six years.
These are the questions that were asked:
Do you ever forget taking your prescribed doses?
Do you sometimes become reckless in matters regarding your medications?
When you get a reprieve, do you tend to stop taking medications
When your situation deteriorates, do you sometimes stop taking your medicine?