Taking prescribed medications for long-term health conditions can not only relieve symptoms, but can also prevent health complications from arising in the future. However, a substantial proportion of people do not take their medications as prescribed. Adherence to medication is a complex behaviour, and currently there are no effective interventions available that advise and support patients’ adherence. Our aim is to develop and evaluate novel and cost-effective interventions to support patients’ adherence to their medications.

 

Current Projects

PAM – Programme on Adherence to Medication

A 5-year NIHR programme grant that aims to develop a scalable low-cost intervention to support medication adherence in people prescribed treatment for hypertension. The intervention will consist of two components: (i) a very brief face-to-face intervention, delivered within the GP practice, that ‘signposts’ the patient to (ii) a digital intervention designed to provide ongoing support. More…

 

MAPS – Medication Adherence for Patient’s Support

Medication Adherence for Patient’s Support (MAPS) is a highly tailored and interactive intervention that aims to promote adherence to medication prescribed for people with a diagnosis of Hypertension and/or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. MAPS is delivered using either, or both, voice and text messages. More…

 

Adherence App Study

The Adherence App Study is a randomised feasibility trial which will test a novel smartphone Application (App) called Healthera, designed to increase adherence to medication in patients prescribed blood pressure lowering medication in the community pharmacy setting. More…

 

Previous Projects

IVR Pilot Study

The aim of this project was to develop and pre-test a tailored interactive voice response (IVR) intervention to support adherence to anti-hypertensive medications, within primary care. Seventeen patients with high blood pressure tested the one-month IVR intervention. Evidence on intervention delivery mode and content informed the development of our MAPS intervention.

Selected publications
Kassavou, A., & Sutton, S. (2017) Reasons for non-adherence to cardio-metabolic medications, and acceptability of an interactive voice response intervention in patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes in primary care: a qualitative study. dx.doi.org/10.1136

 

SAMS – Supported Adherence to Medication Study

Development and evaluation of a nurse-delivered intervention designed to address both intentional and non-intentional non-adherence in Type 2 diabetes More…