Adherence to Drugs, Essay Example

Medication adherence

Medication adherence refers to need for a patient to take their medicine as prescribed by their pharmacist or doctors and ensure they take prescribed medication. It is important for a patient to take his/her medications as failure to adhere worsens the situation (Cool, 2002).

In the case of Miss Catrina Flores, there is need to increase adherence of prescribed drugs since neglect to adhere to heart failure medications increases risk of morbidity and mortality, it also increase risk of cardiovascular hospitalization. Miss Catrina will also be vulnerable to cardiovascular related emergency hospital visits.

To increase Miss Catrina adherence to the prescribed treatment regime, I will subject her to taking nearly all doses that is, hydrochlorothiazide and metoprotol different times, educate her on the importance of adherence to medication. Take part in monitoring and working on the feedback. Improving packaging, pills should be put in special containers for instance pill boxes or blister packs.

Application of multimodal interventions, from research done concerning heart failure sample of clinically stable outpatients with diagnosis of heart failure to an intensive pharmacist-led intervention versus usual care, the results showed that the intervention patients showed some improvements in adherence of cardiovascular medications (Heidenreich, 2008)

Try to point out Miss Catrina Flores misunderstanding and fear and find solutions. Take part in changing complicated dosing. Introduce Miss Catrina to other health care practitioners so that she may seek advice or contact them in case of any complications.

Today they are quite more alternatives to treat heart failure. Reqular medication,exrcise and good feeding habits with careful monitoring has made wonders and prolong life span of people having heart problems. Surgery is considered when the condition becomes severe, since this is advanced treatment option.

Considering the condition of Miss Catrina, to be able to manage her condition she should take her medications as prescribed. The more one knows his/her medication and how it functions, the easier to manage and live a normal life.

Other than hydrochlorothiazide and metoprotol they are alternative common drugs that can be used to treat her conditions, this comprise of:

• Beta-blockers
• Angiotension converting enzyme inhibitors
• Angietension II receptor blockers
• Calcium channel blockers
• Heart pump medication
• Blood vessel dilators
• Aldactone inhibitors
• Diuretics

There are some drugs that need to be avoided when under this condition (heart failure) this includes:

• Some painkillers known as Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) for example Motrin.
• Some ant arrhythmia drug agent
• Antacids that contain sodium
• Decongestants such as Sudafed.(Meicheinbaum,2009)

Conclusion

Prevention is better than cure. For Miss Catrina to prevent her condition from worsening she has to monitor her own symptoms. She should check alterations in fluid status by checking on her weight. She should schedule regular doctor appointments. This way his/her doctor will ensure she stay health and ensure that her heart failure condition is not getting worse.

To prevent heart damage one should:

• Stop smoking(use of cigarettes)
• Maintain weight health.
• Control high blood pressure.
• Engage in regular exercise.
• Avoid use of alcohol.

Reference

Cool CL. (2002) Concordance Among Three Self-Reported Measures of Medication Heart Adherence Pharmacy Refill Records.

Heidenreich PA. (2008) Patient Adherence: The Next Frontier in Quality Improvement.

Meichenbaum D, (2009) Facilitating Treatment Adherence.