Making your patients understand your thought process only serves to gain their trust and they are more likely to adhere to your care plan. Patient education also means patient empowerment By educating patients, you are making them equal partners in their healthcare decision.
Full Answer
Why aren't more physicians providing patient education?
The reason more physicians aren’t providing patient education is not because they don’t want to, it’s because they find it a challenge to devote adequate time to it while managing their practice. This is understandable. It is also why healthcare platforms, like the Virtual Practice, have a Health Network.
Does health care education help patients adhere to care?
In some situations, the way in which we provide health care education doesn’t help patients adhere. For example, some health care professionals conduct patient education by simply giving patients information about their problems and treatments.
How can patient education enhance adherence to medication regimens for depression?
It is important to remember that patients are more likely to be adherent to medication regimens for treatment of depression if they are convinced of the necessity of treatment and have sufficient concern regarding their health; thus, patient education will enhance the likelihood of treatment adherence.
How do health care professionals conduct patient education?
For example, some health care professionals conduct patient education by simply giving patients information about their problems and treatments. Others believe that the quality of patient education is based on the availability of audiovisual programs, well-equipped file drawers, and visible informative posters.
Does patient education improve medication adherence?
Patient education and provision of tools to help patients overcome adherence barriers are effective ways to improve medication adherence. Medication adherence is a common barrier to achieving desired therapeutic outcomes. Patient education is proving to be an important component to increase medication adherence.
What increases patient adherence?
Successful strategies to improve medication adherence include 1) ensuring access to providers across the continuum of care and implementing team-based care; 2) educating and empowering patients to understand the treatment regimen and its benefits; 3) reducing barriers to obtaining medication, including cost reduction ...
What is the best predictor of adherence to a care plan?
In meta-analytic work, findings suggest that one of the strongest predictors of patient nonadherence to medical treatment is patient depression (DiMatteo et al 2000).
What is primary adherence?
Abstract. Primary medication adherence occurs when a patient properly fills the first prescription for a new medication. Primary adherence only occurs about three-quarters of the time for antihypertensive medications.
What are adherence strategies?
Medication Adherence is defined by a patient taking their medications as prescribed or continuing to take their medications. Medication taking is behavioral and addressing patients that are non-adherent by providing support and resources can help lead to better outcomes.
What does increase adherence mean?
Adherence is defined as 'the extent to which the patient's behaviour matches agreed recommendations from the prescriber' 1. Adherence describes patient behaviour in the actual taking of medicines.
Are there better ways to encourage patients to adhere to their treatment plan?
Nine Tips for Improving Medication AdherenceEducate patients about what to expect. ... Nurture relationships with patients. ... Team up with prescribers. ... Engage the staff. ... Learn about and use available technologies. ... Help patients customize their support tools. ... Schedule appointments. ... Synchronize medications.More items...•
Why is medication adherence important?
Taking your medicine as prescribed or medication adherence is important for controlling chronic conditions, treating temporary conditions, and overall long-term health and well-being. A personal connection with your health-care provider or pharmacist is an important part of medication adherence.
What is adhere in healthcare?
Adherence has been defined as “the extent to which a person's behaviour, taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes, corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider”.
What is primary and secondary non adherence?
Understanding Primary Nonadherence to Prescribed Medications Primary nonadherence to medications is defined as never filling a prescription; secondary nonadherence is defined as filling a prescription but not taking the medication as prescribed.
What is primary non adherence?
Primary non-adherence refers to the patient not redeeming a prescribed medication at some point during drug therapy. Research has mainly focused on secondary non-adherence.
What is adherence to medication?
Medication adherence usually refers to whether patients take their medications as prescribed (eg, twice daily), as well as whether they continue to take a prescribed medication. Medication adherence behavior has thus been divided into 2 main concepts, namely, adherence and persistence.
What is the primary determinant of treatment success?
Adherence to therapies is a primary determinant of treatment success. Failure to adherence is a serious problem which not only affects the patient but also the health care system. Medication non adherence in patients leads to substantial worsening of disease, death and increased health care costs. A variety of factors are likely to affect adherence.
Why do patients become non-adherent to medication?
One of the major reasons that patients become non adherent is because they forget to take their medications . Results of a study conducted showed that 49.6% of patients mentioned forgetfulness as one of the major non-intentional reasons for non adherence.49Forgetfulness can be taken care by reminders i.e. through directly mailed letters, telephone, e-mails, text messages to cellular phones and alarms; even though it may not be practically possible in all work settings. Involving the patient’s care givers would be an additional way of combating non adherence due to forgetfulness.
What is non adherence?
A second type of non adherence is called non persistence in which patients decide to stop taking a medication after starting it, without being advised by a health professional to do so . Non persistence is rarely intentional and happens when patients and providers miscommunication about therapeutic plans.
Why is patient involvement important in decision making?
Patient involvement in decision making is essential in improving medication adherence. It is vital for health care providers to identify the underlying causes of patient non adherence to determine appropriate interventional strategy.
What is medication adherence?
Medication adherence is defined by the World Health Organization as "the degree to which the person’s behavior corresponds with the agreed recommendations from a health care provider.". 1Though the terms adherence and compliance are synonymously used adherence differs from compliance.
How to assess adherence in children?
Assessing children’s adherence can be done by asking the help of a care giver (school nurse or teacher). Among the various methods questioning the patient, patient diaries and assessment of clinical response are all methods that are relatively easy to use, but questioning the patient can be susceptible to misrepresentation and tends to result in the health care provider overestimating the patient’s adherence.
How much does adherence to drug therapy vary?
It has also been observed that patient non adherence varies between and within individuals, as well as across time, recommended behaviors and diseases.32Adherence to drug therapy varies with patient age group also. In children, adherence to drug therapy is affected due to their dependence on an adult care giver. The literature concerning adherence reports in elderly patients reports that compliance rates range roughly from 38%- 57% with an average rate of less than 45%.33,34
Why aren't doctors providing patient education?
The reason more physicians aren’t providing patient education is not because they don’t want to, it’s because they find it a challenge to devote adequate time to it while managing their practice. This is understandable. It is also why healthcare platforms, like the Virtual Practice, have a Health Network. The Health Network is a health communication channel that is exclusively dedicated to encourage discussions among doctors and patients. Unlike social media platforms, this network aims to bring together like-minded people to support and facilitate better health outcomes.
Why is patient education important?
Hence it is equally important that your patient education platform has a provision for patients to ask questions about the articles that you are posting. This is perhaps one of the biggest benefits of having provider-generated content as opposed to obscure content on other websites. Patients are likely to value this type of interaction as there is more accountability and ownership of content. Encouraging questions also makes you a better physician.
What are the benefits of the Health Network?
One of the advantages of the Health Network is that it collates online published health information for health providers to share with their patients. Share articles and helpful tips from the network that you think may be useful to your patients without having to spend much time writing them yourself. The Health Network also serves as a means of interacting with other physicians and getting the latest medical news from across the globe, serving also a means of physician education.
What does empowerment mean for patients?
Unlike what many health providers may be led to believe, patient empowerment does not mean that their patients will have no need for them. On the contrary, empowering and educating patients only serves to have them approach you rather than rely on multiple (online or offline) sources for information on their health.
Why do doctors bring out printouts from Wikipedia?
Physicians often complain that their patients bring sheets of printouts from Wikipedia and other websites to explain their symptoms or support their self-diagnosis of health conditions. A simple headache can be made to seem like a symptom of brain tumour, causing most uninformed readers anxiety and sleepless nights.
Why is it important for doctors to balance patient education?
It is a tough call for doctors to make as they are required to balance providing information for patient education in order to ensure transparency in care versus having to be sensitive to how patients will receive said health information.
Why is it important to educate patients?
This means that they are aware of their health condition and why they need to carry out certain procedures or follow specific treatments outlined by their providers. This reduces misconceptions about doctors recommending unnecessary procedures to patients as well.
What is universal health literacy?
Multiple professional organizations recommend using universal health literacy precautions to provide understandable and accessible information to all patients, regardless of their literacy or education levels.
What are the health literacy skills of patients?
Many patients have low health literacy skills, and have difficulty with reading, writing, numeracy, communication, and, increasingly, the use of electronic technology, which impede access to and understanding of health care information.
What is health literacy?
Health literacy is linked to literacy and entails people's knowledge, motivation and competences to access, understand, appraise and apply health information in order to make judgements and take decisions in everyday life concerning health care, disease prevention and health promotion to maintain or improve quality of life during the life course.
Why do patients try to alter how they approach treatment?
For example, if patients are unhappy with a treatment's effects — whether due to limited signs of improvement, slower improvement than desired, or unexpected side effects — they may try to alter how they approach treatment. This can also occur when patients experience improvements.
How to treat all patients?
Approach each patient with a clean slate. Allocate time to understand what obstacles may hinder an individual's success and then cater your efforts to help the patient by addressing those specific obstacles. Taking a blanket approach to delivering assistance is likely to result in missed opportunities to address particular challenges effectively.
Why do patients struggle with treatment compliance?
There are also many reasons patients may struggle with treatment compliance, which often tie back in some way to patient understanding and expectations. For example, if patients are unhappy with a treatment's effects — whether due to limited signs of improvement, slower improvement than desired, or unexpected side effects — they may try to alter how they approach treatment.
What stakeholders are involved in adherence and compliance?
This can include patients and their family members, primary care physicians, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, billers, collections specialists, and even payors. Improving collaboration and coordination between these stakeholders will have a far-reaching and positive impact on treatment adherence and compliance.
What resources should providers and organizations share?
These can include brochures and pamphlets, mobile apps, and videos.
What are the services that patients are expected to continue treatment?
These can include specialists, imaging, rehabilitation, and laboratories. If traveling to new providers and organizations proves difficult, patients may elect not to do so.
How to motivate patients to follow a regimen?
Deliver education. As with communication , providing ongoing education about treatment — including its purpose, expected timeframe, potential obstacles to success, and ways to improve success — can help motivate patients to follow and stay committed to their regimen.
Why is patient education important?
It is important to remember that patients are more likely to be adherent to medication regimens for treatment of depression if they are convinced of the necessity of treatment and have sufficient concern regarding their health; thus, patient education will enhance the likelihood of treatment adherence.
Why should policy be enhanced at the population level?
Policy at the population level should be enhanced to increase demand for quality care of patients with depression and to develop capacities at the local, state, and national levels. The adage "think globally but act locally" comes to mind.
How does stigma affect treatment?
A number of factors contribute to nonadherence ( Table 2 ); for instance, stigma that is real, or perceived as real by the patient, interferes with adherence to treatment plans . In a study by Sirey and associates, 21 134 depressed patients were assessed for perception of stigma related to depression as well as their view of the severity of the depressive disorder. Findings showed that lower perceived stigma and higher self-rated severity of illness were associated with better adherence to the recommended treatment regimen. In this study, 52% of patients were taking an SSRI, 23% were taking a TCA, and 25% were taking another antidepressant; adverse effects were not associated with adherence.
Why is adherence to TCAs so poor?
16 There are a host of reasons patients may have treatment-adherence difficulties with TCAs, including adverse effects and complicated dosing (eg, starting with a low dose and titrating to a therapeutic range).
What is adherence to medical management of major depression?
Adherence to medical management of major depression is a complex phenomenon that goes far beyond the adverse effects issue of the old versus the new antidepressants. The adherence measures of HEDIS assume that the practitioner is prescribing care consistent with the guidelines; it is recognized that there may be practitioner variables that dilute adherence to treatment (such as not scheduling follow-up appointments or not prescribing for sufficient periods). 20
How many times did a psychiatric nurse increase adherence?
Those who had contact with a psychiatric nurse increased their adherence by 1.4 times during the 2 phases. Adherence to medical management of major depression is a complex phenomenon that goes far beyond the adverse effects issue of the old versus the new antidepressants.
What are the different degrees of adherence?
There are different degrees of adherence, from complete to rare or nonexistent adher ence. This article seeks to examine what underlies difficulties and challenges with treatment adherence of major depressive disorder and identifies approaches that the clinician can use to improve patient adherence to treatment.
What is it called when you don't realize the importance of a treatment?
Apathy: When you don't realize the importance of the treatment, or you don't care if the treatment works or not, you are less likely to comply.
Why don't patients follow treatment plans?
Reasons Patients Don't Comply. Research published in 2011 suggests that some of the main reasons patients do not adhere to treatment plans include: 5 . Denial of the problem: Many diseases and conditions are easy to ignore, even when they have been diagnosed. This is particularly true for diseases that are asymptomatic, ...
What are some ways to help patients adhere to a prescribed medication schedule?
These include medication reminder pagers and wristwatches, automatic pill dispensers, and even voice-command medication managers. You can also set alarms on your smartphone. Ask your pharmacist for suggestions as to which particular devices may be helpful for you.
What to do if you don't understand how to take your medication?
Ask questions: If you don’t understand something about how to take your medications when to take it or side effects you might experience, ask your healthcare provider or your pharmacist for help. If you think you might have trouble understanding your practitioner or pharmacist, ask a friend or loved one to go with you to listen, help you, and take notes. The FDA has information on how to take medications as prescribed.
How to keep a medicine calendar?
Keep a "medicine calendar" near your medicine: Make a checkmark every time you take your dose. Tell your doctor if paying for prescription drugs is a problem: Your doctor may be able to prescribe a generic medication or offer other suggestions to offset the cost of a drug. (Generic drugs can cost 80 to 85% less .)
How much of hospital admissions are caused by not taking medication?
Not taking medication as prescribed can account for up to 50% of treatment failures. The WHO also reports that up to 25% of hospital admissions result from patient noncompliance. 1
What happens if you don't follow through with your doctor?
Needless to say, when patients don't follow through with the treatment decisions they have made together with their physicians, it can cause additional problems. They may not get over their sickness or injury. They may get even sicker or injure themselves further—or worse.
What is patient education?
In the past, patient education often consisted of giving patients information that the health care professional thought necessary rather than information based on the patient’s need or desire to be better informed.
How do health care professionals conduct patient education?
For example, some health care professionals conduct patient education by simply giving patients information about their problems and treatments. Others believe that the quality of patient education is based on the availability of audiovisual programs, well-equipped file drawers, and visible informative posters. In addition, if patients fail to perform the desired behaviors, we often assume that they were not given enough information or that they failed to assimilate it. Instead of questioning our assumptions, we respond by repeating the information or giving it in a different form.
How to make a decision about treatment?
In making personal decisions about adherence to treatment recommendations, patients may react in any of the following ways: 1 They may totally accept and adopt the recommendations given without question. 2 They may totally ignore the information given and continue in the current pattern of action or inaction despite personal consequences to health and well-being. An example of this is the patient who continues to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day despite evidence that smoking has serious health consequences. 3 They may appear to have decided to follow the instructions, but actually choose to follow only selected aspects of the recommendations, delaying some suggestions, or blaming events for their inability to follow all the recommendations. 4 They may disregard instructions that seem threatening or impossible to achieve, and search for easier solutions to problems. 5 They may weigh the pros and cons of instructions given, seek additional information, and make a decision of whether or not to follow the instructions based on their investigation and assimilation of the information obtained.
Can they accept and adopt the recommendations given without question?
They may totally accept and adopt the recommendations given without question.
Is a patient unmotivated?
Although we sometimes conclude that a patient is unmotivated, it is important to remember that the transfer of health care information from one person to another and the decision to act on advice is a complex process .