Why taking medicine is a chore - An analysis of routine and contextual factors in the home

Abstract

Medication adherence is an important concern for many people. This is especially so in the older adults population where non-adherence can have serious consequences and may lead to higher healthcare cost. Non-adherence is a problem that afflicts the younger and older adults and there are many factors affecting one's medication adherence (Social/economic factors, provider-patient/health care system factors, condition-related factors, therapy-related factors, patient-related factors [1]). In this paper, we focus on patient-related factors and investigate how these factors (mainly routines in patients' daily life, their surrounding environment and their self-made systems) affect their medicine taking behaviour and their abilities to adhere to their treatment regimens. Results presented in this paper are gathered from in-depth interviews with patients during house visits and from observing how they go about handling their medication in their living space. This knowledge of how patients are currently coping with their medication will be useful for the design of an effective medication support system. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.