Nearly 3 out of 4 Americans don’t take their medications as directed, resulting in serious health consequences. Many factors contribute to non-adherence, but the effect is always the same – patients are putting their health and their future at risk. That is why this May the National Consumers League launched Script Your Future.
Script Your Future is a national campaign to raise awareness about medication adherence. In partnership with nearly 100 public and private stakeholder organizations, the campaign offers adherence resources to help patients and the healthcare professionals who care for them. Script Your Future aims to increase awareness about medication adherence and encourage consumers to take action and improve their mediation adherence behavior through safe and appropriate use. For more information on the campaign, visit www.scriptyourfuture.org/.
As highly-trusted, highly-accessible healthcare professionals, pharmacists and student pharmacists are in a critical position to help patients understand the vital role medications plays in managing a chronic condition such as diabetes, asthma, COPD, hypertension and high cholesterol. And it all starts with a conversation. Student pharmacists – on rotation or in the classroom – are on the frontlines of consumer interaction on the safe and appropriate use of medications.
The Script Your Future Medication Adherence Challenge will be held in October 2011 – American Pharmacists Month – in a coordinated effort to engage colleges and schools of pharmacy in a series of activities to raise visibility for the Script Your Future campaign and the staggering public health issue of poor medication adherence. Colleges and schools are encouraged to partner with pharmacy practice settings, community organizations and even representatives from other health professions to implement their activities to raise awareness of medication adherence.
We are proud to announce the Challenge Teams for the 2011 Medication Adherence Challenge:
As a reminder, Challenge Team faculty, student pharmacists, residents and community partners are invited to join the Medication Adherence Challenge Community.
For more information about Script Your Future or the Medication Adherence Challenge, please contact Whitney Zatzkin.