TIP OF THE WEEK
30 strategies to help ensure medication adherence
- Greet patient by name and mention the name often.
- Ask the patient to repeat what has to be done.
- Keep the directions on the prescription label as simple as possible.
- Give clear instructions on the exact treatment regimen, preferably in writing.
- Make use of special reminder containers and calendars.
- Call the patient if a refill is needed.
- Emphasize the importance of adherence at each office visit.
- Acknowledge the patient's efforts to adhere at each visit.
- Involve the patient's spouse or partner.
- Instruct the patient that a scheduled visit will be required so that the patient can be helped to understand issues relevant to disease management and medication adherence.
- Avoid medical jargon.
- Use short words and short sentences.
- Repeat instructions.
- Make advice as specific and detailed as possible.
- Find out what the patient's worries are; do not confine yourself merely to gathering objective medical information.
- Find out what the patient's expectations are; if they cannot be met, explain why.
- Provide information about the diagnosis and the cause of the illness.
- Adopt a friendly rather than a business-like attitude.
- Spend some time conversing about non-medical topics.
- Long-term therapy should include more frequent office visits to ensure patient medication adherence.
- Provide patient with behavioral contract.
- Ask patients to monitor their drug intake.
- Explain consequences of medication non-adherence.
- Provide a card listing medication dose, indication, and time.
- Link medication times to daily routine events.
- Ask the patient to recall in detail the medication(s) taken.
- Involve family members.
- Make available audiovisual aids, written materials, and computerized drug information.
- Instruct patients to pay attention to adverse side effects and to inform the physician about adverse reactions.
- Increase motivation by enlisting the patient in the decision-making process.
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
Home Health Medications Management Toolkit
© 2002 Home Health Medications Management
This toolkit includes materials an agency needs to get started implementing the Medications Management Model, including an algorithm, model flow chart, protocols, guidelines, UR forms, and other useful tools.
Have you completed the Home Health Immunization Survey for 2007?
Please take five minutes to complete the 36 survey questions relating to your immunization practices. We are re-measuring the immunization practices in Ohio home health agencies and we need your help. The results of this survey will be compared with last year’s survey to identify trends over time.
IN THE NEWS
April 9, 2007 -- Alliance for Aging Research -- More than 85 disease groups, patient advocacy organizations, and foundations urge Congress and the president to chart a better course for medical research on behalf of America's aging population. In a report released today, the 2007 Task Force on Aging Research Funding calls for a 6.7 percent increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in fiscal year 2008 to halt the erosion of the nation's research base and facilitate medical discoveries to fight diseases and disabilities that disproportionately affect older Americans. Read more >>
STUDY: ETHICAL CHALLENGES RELATED TO ELDER CARE. HIGH LEVEL DECISION-MAKERS' EXPERIENCES
BMC Medical Ethics, 2007 -- This paper provides further insight into the ethical dilemmas and ethical challenges met by high level decision-makers, which is important since the overall responsibility for elder care that is also ethically defensible rests with them. Read more >>
U.S. SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS IN HOME HEALTH CARE WORKERS WAGE CASE
April 17, 2007 -- Kaiser Network -- The Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments in a case that could determine whether federal minimum wage and overtime laws apply to home care workers, the AP/Winston-Salem Journal reports. In the case, Evelyn Coke, a 73-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, filed a lawsuit against New York-based Long Island Care at Home to challenge Department of Labor regulations that exempt agency home care workers from the laws.
Read more >>
HOSPICE CARE DOES NOT HASTEN DEATH, STUDY SHOWS
April 12, 2007 -- Reuters Health -- Researchers hope a new study will help dispel the myth that medications used in a hospice to relieve pain and other symptoms hasten death. On the contrary, hospice care may actually prolong life, they've found. Read more >>
COMING ATTRACTIONS
PATIENT SELF-MANAGEMENT TELECONFERENCE
April 25, 2007, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Madigan.
1-800-862-9098 ID: KePRO1
May 1, 2007, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Madigan.
1-800-862-9098 ID: KePRO
ARE YOU READY FOR PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE?
A half-day seminar in Lima on May 2, 2007.
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
INDUSTRY EVENTS
CMS HOME HEALTH, HOSPICE & DME OPEN DOOR FORUM
April 25, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
Dial: 1-800-837-1935 & Reference Conference ID: 8470822
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