Improving self-administration of medications

When was the last time you took care of a patient who was sick primarily because of an error in self-administration of medication?  Too much warfarin.  Too little antibiotic.  It happens all the time.

Many people don’t take medicines correctly, for a variety of reasons.  Doses may be skipped, sometimes intentionally, sometimes forgotten.  Patients may not be clear on the purpose of the medication, or may confuse essential meds with those intended for occasional relief.  Many people take home remedies, medications ordered by previous physicians, or medicine that has not been prescribed for them.  This could lead to combinations that are dangerous.  On top of that, there are errors in dosing, sequence, and timing of self-administered medications.

Consequently, teaching patients about their medicines is important for good health outcomes, increased patient safety, and lower health care costs.  To minimize errors of misunderstanding, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality offers four health literacy tools for pharmacists — but they are not just for pharmacists.

This site provides:

• A tool to help pharmacies assess how well they are set up to help patients with limited health literacy
• A training program to improve communication between staff and patients
• Instructions on how to create a pill card, a visual reminder of essential information about the medication
• A literacy-friendly telephone script for automated telephone reminders

The training program contains communication advice appropriate for all health care providers.  The pill cards could be useful for anyone who educates patients about medications.  These tools don’t only apply to patients with poor health literacy skills, since anyone can make a self-medication error.  These tools can be helpful working with all your patients.

To learn more, go to:  http://pharmacyhealthliteracy.ahrq.gov/Sites/PharmHealthLiteracy/Default.aspx?pid=748