Good health is defined as a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. Lack of debilitating physical symptoms alone doesn’t necessarily mean sound health. Although the focus on mental health is growing, the global efforts to remedy them have remained insufficient1. Mental health conditions include various mental and neurological disorders, substance-abuse behavior, suicidal tendencies as…
As described in previous articles, the mind has two systems of thinking: System 1 and System 2. The first one is immediate and spontaneous. The second is reflective and conscious but requires cognitive efforts and is thus used less frequently. System 1, our immediate, impulsive reaction, is therefore responsible for 95% of all the decisions…
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects approximately 24 million people or 1 in 300 individuals (0.32%) worldwide. The onset of Schizophrenia is mostly associated with late adolescence and is observed to occur earlier among men than among women6. It impairs the person’s ability to think, feel and behave. Schizophrenia causes psychosis characterized by…
The key challenges to medication adherence for patients with severe psychotic disorders include -medication side effects, complexity, and duration as well as patient’s insights, beliefs, social stigma, and lack of support1. Psychoeducation, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), and motivational interviewing are the typically used strategies to improve adherence2. The digital medicine system is a novel and…
Non-adherence is a major issue that can be addressed by PSPs Non-adherence impedes patients from benefiting from the clinical promise of their treatment. Medications that have proven their potential in clinical trials may not deliver on that potential in the real world, potentially because of non-adherence.1 The numbers speak for themselves: average adherence rates for…
Patient Support Programs are behavioral interventions for improving adherence Non-adherence to therapies in neurological conditions is a significant issue, associated with worse clinical outcomes and increased healthcare utilization and costs.1 There are many factors involved, including complexity of medication regimens, depression, gender, and duration of disease that may lead to a patient being non-adherent,2,3 therefore,…
As described in the previous articles, adherence to treatment of patients suffering from neurological conditions can be a big issue; for Parkinson’s disease, sub-optimal adherence is estimated to vary between 10 and 67%,1 and up to half of patients with conditions such as epilepsy and bipolar disorder are estimated to be non-adherent to medication.2,3 Low…
Measures and survey tools are useful for characterizing patient health behavior Chronic diseases are a global public health issue and are increasing in prevalence and associated costs. These conditions require significant self-management by patients, including adherence to therapy regimens and medication.1 Adherence to epilepsy medication is associated with improved control of symptoms; however, non-adherence is…
Improving patient outcomes and adherence requires an actionable framework Previous articles in this series demonstrate that non-adherence is a significant public health issue in patients with neurologic disease. A study conducted in Europe in 2004 estimated that the annual economic cost of neurological disease (including dementia, epilepsy, migraine and other headaches, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease…
The Transtheoretical Model: a tool for influencing positive behavioral change Neurological disorders are a significant public health issue worldwide.1 Non-adherence to therapy for these conditions results in poor response to therapy, impacts on the quality of life of patients and causes associated costs to them and healthcare systems.2,3 Non-adherence rates have been shown to be…