Scientific Committee
Title:
Medication Non Adherence in Community Dwelling Adults: Causes, Consequences, And Home MonitoringBiography
Dr. Barbara De Groot graduated in 1992 with her associate degree in nursing and now holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Her nursing experience spans multidisciplinary staff and patient education; acute, hospice, and home health nursing; hospital discharge planning and education; supervisor, manager, and directorship positions; and teaching in ADN and BSN programs. She is currently the Certified Nurse Aide Program Director for the New Mexico Genesis Healthcare training centers.
Abstract
In 1985, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop stated: “Drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them”. Best outcomes in healthcare rely on evidence-based treatments and adherence to those treatments. The evidence, however, tells us that levels of adherence are frequently less than ideal. Regardless of condition or chronicity, adherence is the most important modifiable influence on treatment outcome. An aging population requires a shift in focus from acute illness to chronic disease management; thus, the issue of poor medication adherence is a principal worry in the healthcare system. Chronic illnesses typically require complex treatment regimens of extended duration that increase the potential for poor medication adherence. Despite the condition or chronicity, medication adherence is the most influential factor in treatment outcome. Poor adherence renders any therapy useless. Patients, health care providers, researchers, insurers, and policymakers are interested in ensuring that effective medication therapies are utilized as prescribed to promote best outcomes. Thus, it is important for healthcare providers, nurses, patients, and families to understand the causes and consequences of medication nonadherence, and the methods for monitoring medication adherence.
The audience take away from presentation:
- Understand the reasons for medication non-adherence in the U.S.,
- Identify what methods are currently used in their organization to reduce non-adherence, and
- Apply the information presented to develop effective medication monitoring interventions in their practice settings.
