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National medication adherence campaign honors student leaders in multi-profession challenge

Fourth-annual Script Your Future contest saw participation by more than 100 health profession schools hosting 400 events in 21 states, and reaching more than five million consumers nationwide.

This photo shows the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy team.
This photo shows the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy team.

Research shows that nearly three out of four Americans do not take their medications as directed. This may lead to devastating results, particularly for people with chronic conditions. National health advocacy leaders recognize poor medication adherence as a public health priority, the outcome of which leads to more than one-third of medicine-related hospitalizations and almost 125,000 U.S. deaths each year. Improved medication adherence leads to better health outcomes and reduced total health care costs.

FOR MORE ON PATIENT ADHERENCE/COMPLIANCE, VISIT THIS LINK AND CLICK ON THE HEADLINE(S) OF YOUR CHOICE.

On May 18, the National Consumers League (NCL) and its partners announced the winners of the fourth-annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a competition designed to engage health profession students and faculty across the nation by encouraging teams to develop creative ideas, events, and initiatives to raise public awareness about the importance of medication adherence.

Script Your Future, launched in 2011, is a three-year national public awareness campaign about medication adherence coordinated by the NCL, a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1899. NCL’s mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the U.S. and abroad.

This year’s winners are the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy, and the Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Pharmacy (NEOMED).

The 2015 Medication Adherence Team Challenge is part of the nationalScript Your Futurepublic awareness campaign coordinated by NCL. The campaign includes more than 135 public and private stakeholder organizations, including Challenge sponsors—the American Assn. of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Assn. of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the American Medical Assn. (AMA), the National Community Pharmacists Assn. (NCPA), the American Pharmacists Assn. (APhA), and the American Assn. of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

“Educating the next generation of pharmacists and other health care professionals is imperative to ensuring that future patients and caregivers practice better adherence,” says Dr. Lucinda L. Maine, Executive Vice President and CEO at AACP. “TheScript Your FutureTeam Challenge inspires students to think about new ways to address this issue and encourages innovative strategies to better connect with patients. The creativity and innovation demonstrated by this year’s winners illustrate how our future health care practitioners can and will address medication adherence.”

“We were thrilled to see students work collaboratively—from pharmacy, nursing, medicine, social work, and many other health professions—to creatively help patients in their communities improve adherence,” says Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “This comprehensive approach will ultimately result in patients hearing from multiple voices encouraging them to take their medication as directed. Poor adherence is a real public health crisis in the United States, but with an emerging generation of health professionals armed to better deal with it, we are optimistic about our future.”

Top-performing teams are honored with a National Award for overall outstanding team achievement, or a Focused Award THAT recognizes outstanding team achievement in the specific areas of media/communications outreach, health disparity/under-represented community outreach, or creative inter-professional event.

“The numbers are sobering,” says NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, “According to NCPA’sNational Adherence Survey, three out of four patients indicate they have trouble managing their chronic medication prescriptions.Focusing on the next generation of health care professionals and the solutions they can bring to the tablecan help achievea more adherent future.Script Your Futurecould easily become the catalyst that ignites a revolution in more effective medication adherence.Congratulations to the award winners.”

“In order for patients to achieve optimal health outcomes, it is essential that they take their medication as directed,” says AMA President Robert M. Wah, M.D. “By educating patients through community outreach and improving the conversations happening in doctors’ offices across the country, we can help patients avoid adverse drug reactions and unnecessary hospitalizations as well as reduce health care costs. TheScript Your Futurechallenge offers health care professionals-in-training the opportunity to develop innovative solutions for tackling this important public health challenge and improve public health.”

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