Medication Adherence

Medication Adherence

Medication Adherence (#26)

Christine Carrington ¹

Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Patient adherence to any medication regimen is critical to treatment success. Treatment adherence to a self administered medication is dependent on many factors including the cost, duration and complexity of the medication regimen. Adherence is also influenced by the extent to which the patient knows or understands what the medication is for and when it should be taken. If the patient does not understand how to take the medication, then non-adherence to a medication regimen is not a surprising result
This presentation will focus on methods available to assess what the elderly patient actually understands about the medications they take in relation to cancer and its therapy and how this can influence medication taking behaviour. The use of the repertory grid as a tool to provide insight into what individual patients understand about their medications will be discussed and how these insights can be used to influence medication understanding and ultimately medication adherence for cancer patients.

Authors contributing to this presentation.

Carrington, C

Dr Christine Carrington is a Senior Consultant Pharmacist for Cancer Services at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. She has over 30 years’ experience working as a pharmacist in cancer at a clinical, service and research level in Australia and overseas. Christine is an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and lectures and runs tutorials on topics related to cancer and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students. Christine was awarded the Australian Clinical Pharmacist award in 2015 by the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) in recognition of outstanding contributions in clinical pharmacy practice in cancer. She regularly conducts and collaborates in research relating to cancer therapy and clinical pharmacy practice. Her research includes investigating the impact of the clinical pharmacist on the medication management of cancer patients, the influence of the pharmacist on cancer patients understanding and beliefs around their medication and the management of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. Christine’s published work includes articles on oral chemotherapy, targeted cancer therapy, melanoma, pharmacist competency and medication safety. She regularly presents at conferences, seminars and runs workshops on topics relating to cancer therapy and is an advocate for educational opportunities for all health care disciplines. Christine has a keen interest in safe medication practices in cancer therapy across the multidisciplinary setting. She led the multidisciplinary working group for the review and development of the COSA national guidelines for the ‘Safe Prescribing, Dispensing and Administration of Cancer therapy’ which have been published on the Cancer Council Wiki platform. Her clinical interests include chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, the role of immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer and the therapeutic management of haematological malignancies, breast cancer and melanoma. Christine is a member of COSA, the SHPA and BOPA (The British Oncology Pharmacists Association). Christine also has a personal interest in supporting the well being and mental health of health care professionals and has a lived experience of the detrimental effects our busy workloads can have on our mental health.

Medication Adherence (#26)

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