Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/design-for-wellbeing-ux-for-medication-adherence-72b3644a24be?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Arushi Singh 
Medication adherence refers to the degree to which a patient correctly follows his/her medical prescription. This could refer to either drug compliance, self care, engaging physical activities/exercises or even medical device/technology usage. Often the patients, their families, and the health care providers are responsible for improving or maintaining compliance. The treatment of many chronic illnesses includes the long-term use of medications. Although these medications are effective in combating disease as far as clinical trials are concerned, their full benefits are often not realized because of poor medication adherence (roughly 50% of the patients complete their medications as prescribed)(1). This not only affects a patients health and well-being, but also affects the research in pharmacy resulting again in poor population health.
Therefore, as part of a small design activity, I idea-stormed small interventions, which could help improve medication adherence in older adults. I thought it would be interesting to pen down this little thought experiment.
If we consider a demography like India it is important to understand that we are a very close knit relationship-based society and most often elders live with their children who look after them. However, with increasing number of nuclear families in urban India, we also see a rise of care providing institutions. This may not be the most desirable situation, nevertheless, the need for technological interventions to support well being for older adults is well nigh.
If we look at the solutions in the market, one of the most popular product ecosystem is that of pill pack, which tries to solve the problem with a uniquely designed packaging which is further assisted by its digital companions, which run on a smart watch as well as a smartphone. Who would’ve thought that a mere packaging innovation will result in one of the most popular medication adherence solutions. Other solutions also include various smartly designed pill boxed which sometimes have added abilities to set up reminders.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*zKZP4dMsbHXXnO2WeGY3qQ.png">
Another thing that was important to look at was how medical records are currently stored by a patient. Here is an example of a patient file along with the prescriptions.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*K6QDsTp4BraQ3_EkO5jwUA.png">Sample medical record-Patient’s copy
If we closely understand the primary users and the stakeholders, it comprises of-
Doctor: Provides diagnosis, maintains and updates prescriptions.High medication Compliance improves her reputation as a practitioner.
Patient: Consumes and updates medication. High medication compliance will help them recover quickly.
Caregivers: This includes professional agencies dedicated to medial caregiving. They are medical experts who are able to monitor each patient personally.
Pharmacist: Provides medicines as per prescriptions.
Patient’s family: Monitors and administers the patient’s medication
Keeping this in mind, let’s assume a sample scenario-
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*_WmtIk7NX8RcjRZ4EvOj6A.png">
<blockquote>01. Mr. Bindra is 80yrs old and suffers from type-2 Diabetes.He needs to take his insulin injection and antidiabetic medication regularly.</blockquote>
<blockquote>02. He also needs to closely monitor his diet. Mr. Bindra visits Dr. Mehta regularly to keep a check on his health. After each visit, Dr. Mehta updates his records and sets up his medication plan on the recommended application.</blockquote>
<blockquote>03. Mr. Bindra goes to the pharmacy to collect his medication.</blockquote>
<blockquote>04. Mr. Bindra gets contextual reminders on his mobile phone to take his medications on time. His family and caregivers(through phone based assistance) also ensure he doesn’t miss his dosage and does not cheat on his diet.</blockquote>
In this scenario, it is important to note the most critical pain points &#8211;
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*Z4YI7FA-31CoYoINpX6fqw.png">
Based on this understanding, here are some concepts that could allow us to solve the challenge at hand-
<h4>DATA LOGGING</h4>
01. Tappity-tap
Allows doctor to enter the patients details with ease. It is so designed that it requires minimum typing and maximum productivity.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*N8Pbh9jQyGaFuFUNhLpFQA.png">
02. Med Assist
Allows patients to personalize their health routine and manage it through a conversational UI.
It uses AI (such as Google Assistant or Lark) and caregivers at the backend to give personal healthcare management for the patient. The patients however do not know that there are human messages as well in addition to AI. A more wizard of oz like approach.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*ZoJNyipcAIeIvWVwwBwOiA.png">
Understands the user’s context from their connected devices
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*I9EUogHo24qlUClC25Nh7g.png">
<h4>LACK OF MOTIVATION</h4>
01. Fun Meds
Gamifies the experience of consuming tablets to that the user does not miss his medicines
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*gfbFI6V4luTeZuf6cSK0XQ.png">
02. Uses the phone lock screen to alert the user of his medication adherence.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*-_ZOd2iRZk1a-VkcP4hgLg.png">
03. Nagging Messages
Push messages can be monotonous and the users often fall out of using them after some time.
In this case, it makes sense to make use of connected devices to prompt the user as per his present context.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*y4XmViK7TkTUg4-GWpLtnQ.png">
The ideas here are clearly not exhaustive but just initial steps in this direction. Medication adherence is still an unsolved problem costing millions to our health care system. With changing lifestyles that force individuals to care less for their overall wellbeing, medication adherence is bound to continue or perhaps get worse. Therefore, it is important for designers to leverage the existing behavioral trends with advancing technologies to conceive a truly personalized innovation. Medication adherence is also a context-sensitive behavior. Therefore, just-in-time adaptive interventions are much needed than traditional reminder services. Finally, medication adherence is not just limited to prescribed medicines, but also towards unprescribed supplements (e.g., vitamin capsules, calcium dosages, or even Ayurvedic supplements). We hope the known yet unsolved problem of medication adherence is tackled by designers, technologists, and medical professionals alike.
(1)Brown Marie T., Bussel K Jennifer. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068890/">Medication Adherence: WHO Cares?</a> Mayo Clin Proc. 2011 Apr; 86(4): 304–314. doi: 10.4065/mcp.2010.0575
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<a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/design-for-wellbeing-ux-for-medication-adherence-72b3644a24be">Design for wellbeing — UX for medication adherence</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io">Prototypr</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Design for wellbeing — UX for medication adherence

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