Interventions to improve adherence
- Simplify Rx regimen: The most effective strategy.
- ↓ Pill burden and dosing frequency.
- Use once-daily dosing or fixed-dose combination pills.
- Patient education & counseling:
- Provide individualized, repeated education.
- Employ behavioral techniques like motivational interviewing.
- Reminders & feedback:
- Use electronic reminders (texts, apps, smart pill bottles).
- Provide feedback on clinical outcomes (e.g., BP, HbA1c).
- Team-based care:
- Involve pharmacists (e.g., medication synchronization).
- Utilize a multidisciplinary approach, especially for pts with polypharmacy.
- Reduce financial barriers:
- Decrease or eliminate copayments and out-of-pocket costs.
- Address psychosocial factors:
- Screen for and address low health literacy.
- Involve the patient’s social support system (family, friends).
Adolescents
- Lack of support, stigmatization (especially amongst adolescents, e.g., due to peer attitudes toward the illness and/or its treatment)
- Peer-facilitated behavioral interventions to convey knowledge about the illness and social acceptance for its treatment
- Encourage patients with chronic illnesses to seek support from peers with the same chronic illness, e.g., through:
- Community health projects
- Local and online support groups
- Encourage patients with chronic illnesses to familiarize their peers with their illness and its treatment.