It is estimated that only 50% of people with long term conditions take their medicines optimally. Good medicines adherence is key to achieving therapeutic goals and improving patient outcomes, whilst poor adherence leads to reduced clinical benefit and generates significant waste.
Addressing non-adherence is challenging due to its multifaceted, complex and dynamic nature. This resource provides health and social care professionals with guidance on a systematic approach to optimising medication adherence. It includes guidance for the reader to select and source appropriate adherence aids and solutions to develop bespoke support for each person. As with all complex interventions; person-centred discussions, use of clinical judgement and ongoing monitoring will also be needed.
A key driver of this work is the routine and often inappropriate requests for Multicompartment Compliance Aids (MCCA’s) filled by pharmacies. While MCCAs have their place, they are not a panacea for medication adherence issues and the risks of using them are widely documented and their benefit in relation to medication adherence is unknown.