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. 2010 May;26(5):249–258. doi: 10.1016/s0828-282x(10)70379-2

TABLE 5.

Strategies to improve patient adherence to therapy

Assist your patient to adhere by practicing the following:

  • tailor pill-taking to fit patients’ daily habits (grade D);

  • simplify medication regimens to once-daily dosing (grade D);

  • replace multiple-pill antihypertensive combinations with single-pill combinations (grade C);

  • use unit-of-use packaging (of several medications to be taken together) (grade D); and

  • improve adherence to an antihypertensive prescription through a multidisciplinary team approach (grade B)

Assist your patient in getting more involved in his or her treatment by practicing the following:

  • encourage greater patient responsibility/autonomy in monitoring his or her blood pressure and adjusting prescriptions (grade C); and

  • educate patients and patients’ families about his or her disease and treatment regimens (grade C)

Improve your management in the office and beyond by practising the following:

  • assess adherence to pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapy at every visit (grade D);

  • encourage adherence with therapy by out-of-office contact (either by phone or mail), particularly during the first three months of therapy (grade D);

  • coordinate with work-site health care givers to improve monitoring of adherence with pharmacological and lifestyle modification prescriptions (grade D); and

  • use electronic medication compliance aids (grade D)