To support healthcare professionals in improving adherence, a series of articles has been developped to provide digestible learning resources around the role behavior science plays in adherence, including practical insights relating to therapy areas. The articles provide a useful companion to a series of masterclasses where the subjects of adherence and behavioral science are explored in more depth.


Latest articles

Oral therapies for cancer: a boon for treatment and bane for adherence

Oral therapies have revolutionized cancer treatment with their ease of administration. However, they are prone to non-adherence as drugs are administered by patients away from health care settings1. Cancer therapies are now akin to treatments for chronic ailments, lasting for several years. Therefore, the medication adherence barriers that pertain to chronic disease have become significant…

General Topics

Adherence in Asthma – a victim of the episodic nature of the disease

Asthma is characterized by its episodic and unpredictable nature1. Inhalation therapy – the standard treatment of care – is not optimally adhered to by patients. The key barriers are unawareness, misconceptions, unaffordability, inaccessibility, and associated stigma1,2. Tracking adherence in asthma is also a considerable challenge. However, the upcoming smart technologies like the use of Smart-inhalers…

General Topics

Severe psychiatric disorders: causes & interventions for medication non-adherence

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…

Central Nervous System

Non-adherence to immunosuppressants in organ transplant patients

Non-adherence to medication remains a barrier to long-term graft survival in the life of solid organ transplant patients1,2. The major risk factors for non-adherence include income, complex regimen, employment status, minority race, illness perception, and mental health2,3.  Multicomponent interventions tailored to the need of patients appear to be most effective in lowering non-adherence to immunosuppressants4.…

General Topics

Prescription costs are key to non-adherence: Can generics help?

Prescription costs are a potent driver for non-adherence to medication1-3. Generic substitution of prescriptions is key to lowering the out-of-pocket costs of medications4-6. Distrust in generic medications needs to be addressed to encourage their usage and reduce cost-related non-adherence7.   Cost-related non-adherence (CRNA): Cost of medicines is an overriding issue for adherence to the treatment…

General Topics

Healthcare practitioners: A potential springboard for adherence success

Healthcare practitioners (HCPs) are uniquely positioned to deliver medication adherence interventions1. Communication between HCPs and patient is inadequate2. Enabling HCPs with the required skill-set is pivotal1. Improving adherence to medications requires a collaborative team effort from health care professionals3,4. Optimum disease management requires taking medication in the required dosage at the right time as advised…

General Topics

Challenges to medication adherence for morbidities during menopause

•   The significant milestone of menopause is associated with the risk of weight gain, poor bone health, chronic diseases, and cancers1,6,9, 11, 12 •   Medication adherence during menopause is poor. The primary barriers are enhanced menopause symptoms and multimorbidity fuelled by poor psychological health17, 20, 24. Risk of morbidities during menopause Menopause is a natural…

Menopause

Technological advancements and innovations to improve medication adherence

Medication non-adherence is an important challenge that leads to suboptimal treatment outcomes1. Using innovative technologies in interventions can help in combating this issue. Smart interventions specifically concerning packaging, monitoring, record keeping, and reminding medication are now available and can significantly improve patients’ medication adherence2. Medication adherence defined as the extent to which a patient’s behavior…

General Topics