Supporting Reflection on Medication Adherence: Eliminating a Blind Spot in Our Rearview Mirror

Prescription medications are a vital form of medical intervention. About two thirds of adults in Canada and the U.S. have prescribed medications and statistics in comparable countries are similar. It is common for older adults or those with chronic conditions to take multiple different medications. The safety and effectiveness of medication-based therapies requires that patients adhere to their prescriptions. Improving adherence has been identified as a challenge (and opportunity) to increase health and wellbeing. Among the many factors that may impact adherence (including socio-economic status) are forgetfulness, unwanted side-effects, perceived lack of benefit, lifestyle conflicts, etc. Reflecting on past behaviours can help patients (and their care providers) to optimize adherence. Unfortunately, reflection is not well supported by current tools and technologies and relies on patient recollection and crude methods like pill counting. The CHAOS (Collaborative Health Adherence Optimization System) project seeks to address this “blind spot.” This paper reports on the requirements for reflection views elicited in the CHAOS project and a prototype design of a reflection tool.