Given the high rate of incorrect drug usage, Kaiser Permanente is calling for industry communicators to develop better overall medication education programs and more targeted efforts aimed at seniors. Kaiser cites these compelling stats as a call to action:
- Between 40 and 60 percent of all prescription medications are not taken properly.
- More than 125,000 people die annually as a direct consequence of taking their medications incorrectly.
The communications remedy for medication misuse is encouraging consumers to ask questions and volunteer information about their lifestyle, other medications they are taking and health changes to physicians. In lieu of the increasingly complex drug marketplace - encompassing more than 9,000 drugs now available and another 100 being added each year - this is particularly important.
Medication education programs should focus on:
- Involving more pharmacist involvement, which is widely underutilized, in outreach efforts.
- Encouraging patients to become more educated about the medications they're taking, including why it's being prescribed, how the drugs work and when and how it should be taken.
(Kaiser, Dena Durkin, 626/405-3004)