Formulating medication adherence strategies using the PASSAction framework
Adherence, as defined by the World Health Organization, is the extent to which a persons behaviour-taking medication, following a diet and/or executing lifestyle changes-corresponds with agreed-upon recommendations from a health care provider.1 Every year in Canada, patient nonadherence to drug ther...
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| Published in: | Canadian pharmacists journal Vol. 146; no. 1; pp. 30 - 32 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Los Angeles, CA
SAGE Publications
01-01-2013
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Adherence, as defined by the World Health Organization, is the extent to which a persons behaviour-taking medication, following a diet and/or executing lifestyle changes-corresponds with agreed-upon recommendations from a health care provider.1 Every year in Canada, patient nonadherence to drug therapy is estimated to cost the health care system S8-S10 billion and is associated with about 140,000 hospital admis- sions and 35,000 deaths.2 Yet adherence does not appear to be a clinical priority among community pharmacists.3 This phenomenon is compounded by the fact that pharmacists are currently not reimbursed for providing services specifically aimed to improve adherence. Additionally, family physicians perceive inadequate time and financial compensation as barriers that inhibit them from collaborating fully with community pharmacists in order to promote patient adherence.4 The adherence factors identified for each prob- lem description can now be used to formulate a focused and tailored adherence strategy for the patient. For example, after postulating that the patient in scenario 1 may not adhere to drug ther- apy due to regimen complexity, a strategy that precisely addresses this adherence factor could be the use of a medication-taking system. Using this thought process yields the possible adherence strategies shown in column 3 of Table 1. PASSAction has attempted to provide not so much the ultimate solutions to potential or actual medi- cation nonadherence but rather a framework that pharmacists can consider using to formulate and implement adherence strategies compatible with their practice. As so many have pointed out, patient adherence is a low-hanging fruit; we can improve the dismal statistics we have seen simply by ensuring that patients take their medications as prescribed- the final and crucial step of the medication-taking process. Don't underestimate the collective impact of simple actions we can implement in our day-to- day practice in alleviating the financial burden of our health care system and improving drug therapy outcomes for all Canadians. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 1715-1635 1913-701X |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1715163512472320 |