Medication Adherence among Geriatric Patients
Medication adherence is an important concept for older adults in geriatric care. By definition, the concept of medication adherence refers to the ration of medication taken over a prescription period compared to the ration of the medication prescribed over the said period. With a relatively weak immunity for the older adults, adhering to the prescribed medications is important in the management of their condition (Cicolini et al., 2016). However, adherence to medications remains a challenge for older adults in geriatric care. The journal explores some of the issues involved with medication adherence with close reference to my clinical experience.
As a geriatric nurse, I have interacted with various elderly individuals with both acute and chronic illnesses. One of the challenges that I have noticed among the group of geriatric patients that I have interacted with is poor adherence to medications. It is essential to understand that a combination of patient factors, medication factors, and patient-provider relationship factors impact adherence to medications among elderly individuals.
Patient factors significantly contribute to poor adherence to medications. Old age is one of the patient factors that lead to non-adherence to medications. Elderly patients often forget to take the medications when they are left alone, thus contributing to medication non-adherence (Cicolini et al., 2016). Besides, the level of education is yet another patient-related factor that makes it difficult for elderly patients to adhere to medications (Yap, Thirumoorthy & Kwan, 2016). Elderly patients with low levels of education may fail to understand the importance of adhering to the dosage as prescribed hence contributing to non-adherence. Moreover, low levels of education make it difficult for elderly individuals to read the prescription instructions and adhere to them. A patient’s physical or mental state equally impacts adherence to medications. A mentally challenged patient may not remember to take medication on time because of the impairment.
Apart from the patient-related factors, medication factors equally impact medication adherence among elderly patients. While caring for an elderly patient with diabetes mellitus, I noticed that he did not adhere to the medications. When I asked him, he stated that the high cost of the medications sometimes made it difficult for him to adhere to the medications (Yap, Thirumoorthy & Kwan, 2016). Besides, some of the patients state that poor labeling instructions and complexity of medication regimen present an adherence challenge. The significant patient-provider relationship factor that affects adherence is dissatisfaction with the healthcare service provision.
Strategies for Improving Medication Adherence
Setting up reminders for patients is one of the basic strategies that is essential in improving medication adherence. Elderly patients with long-term conditions such as dementia and other mental health conditions may need to be reminded to take the medications on time (Boyd et al., 2020). Besides, the interpretation of medication instructions by the physicians is critical after making prescriptions. Interpretations help in offsetting challenges associated with instructions and medication complexity. As a geriatric nurse, I ensure that I give further explanation of the medication instructions including the dietary pattern that the patient should adhere to. It is equally essential to help the patient identify medication cost-cutting strategies to improve adherence. Medicare Part D subsidies, for example, make the medications affordable to the patients, thus improving adherence.
In conclusion, geriatric nurses and other healthcare professionals proving care for the elderly should ensure that they adhere to medications. The journal entry provides details on some of the factors that might contribute to medication non-adherence. The medication adherence issues that have been identified in the journal are patient-related and medication-related. Nurses need to improve adherence through the identified strategies.
References
Boyd, A. D., Ndukwe, C. I., Dileep, A., Ervin, O. F., Yao, Y., Welland, B., … & Groo, V. (2020). Elderly Medication Adherence Intervention Using the My Interventional Drug-Eluting Stent Educational App: Multisite Randomized Feasibility Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(6), e15900. doi:10.2196/15900
Cicolini, G., Comparcini, D., Flacco, M. E., Capasso, L., Masucci, C., & Simonetti, V. (2016). Self-reported medication adherence and beliefs among elderly in multi-treatment: a cross-sectional study. Applied Nursing Research, 30, 131-136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2015.11.011
Yap, A. F., Thirumoorthy, T., & Kwan, Y. H. (2016). Medication adherence in the elderly. Journal of Clinical Gerontology and Geriatrics, 7(2), 64-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcgg.2015.05.001