Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Medications play a prominent role in the treatment of many illnesses. Failing to adhere to prescribed medication regimens contributes to an array of poor health outcomes. In addition to the cost in terms of human suffering, the financial cost of medication non-adherence is staggering. Poor health literacy has been identified as a major cause of medication non-adherence. This paper focuses on non-adherence related to health literacy in the older adult population in the United States. Eight simple interventions to aid healthcare personnel in working with this population to improve adherence are provided.

In a study to decrease medication administration errors, nurses wore brightly colored sashes as a symbol they were performing the important task of giving meds and were not to be interrupted. Situated within Watson’s Caritas theory, the study gave nurses the opportunity to “center” themselves to enhance focus and concentration on medication administration. While nurses appreciated the opportunity to concentrate on administering meds without interruptions by other staff or phone calls, they worried that patient care coordination for which they were responsible was suffering. Interventions focused on enhancing safety of a single task may be incongruent with total patient-centered care.