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NURS2007 : Mental Health Clinical Practice

   

Added on  2020-03-04

11 Pages2644 Words73 Views
Running head: FACTORS THAT COMPLICATE ADHERENCE TO MEDICATION 1Factors That Complicate Adherence to MedicationStudent’s NameUniversity Affiliation

FACTORS THAT COMPLICATE ADHERENCE TO MEDICATION 2IntroductionThis essay explores health factors that might complicate a mentally ill person from not complying to a prescribed medication. It focuses on a case scenario of George ‘a 27- year old male patient who has had multiple admissions in the past to a local acute mental health service. He (George) is admitted to an acute unit on assessment order due to his non-adherence to Risperidone, a medication he has been prescribed to treat Schizophrenia.’ In earlier past, George has been diagnosed with Schizophrenia, a condition he has not agreed with nor being comfortable with that is why he “prefers to use cannabis to treat his condition rather than the pharmacological medication prescribed by his psychiatrist.” Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects how a person thinks, manages emotions and relate to others (Minzenberg & Carter, 2012). Although there are different treatments to patients with Schizophrenia, George is prescribed Risperidone, an antipsychotic medication usually taken daily either in syrup or pill form. George has failed to comply with the medication because he believes cannabis works in hisfavour than Risperidone. According to Minzenberg and Carter, (2012) adherence to medications is vital for the alleviation of psychotic symptoms associated with schizophrenia such as distorted thoughts, paranoia, hallucinations and feelings of fright.Factors that Might Complicate George’s Compliance to MedicationNon-adherence to medication is a complex as well as a multidimensional health care challenge that has been witnessed by George during healthcare delivery. Gearing et al., (2011) holds that the decision on whether to take prescribed medications or not by the people with schizophrenia is a hard phenomenon involving different patients plus medication related facets.

FACTORS THAT COMPLICATE ADHERENCE TO MEDICATION 3For the patient related factors, they include population characteristics such as drug and substanceabuse as it is evident in the case of George using Canabis, alcohol dependence, those newly starting the treatment, younger age at the outset of illness, and low-level involvement in the social activities (Gearing et al., 2011). Another great contributor to poor adherence to medicationis a membership to the minority ethnic sects. Belief about illness and treatment are also other crucial factors that determine adherence to medication. For instance, adherence to medicines is higher among individuals with schizophrenia who are insightful and aware of the purpose of drugs to alleviate symptoms of an illness or shun from being admitted to the hospital. This is evident in the case scenario where George prefers to user cannabis than the recommended medication. According to him, he believes that cannabis can suppress pain and be used to cure illnesses rather than the prescribed Risperidone. Also the attitude towards mediation and belief that medications are much effective in lowering symptoms is another aspect that contributes to adherence to medicines. Intolerable symptoms and side effects are another health factors that might complicate George’s compliance to the prescribed medication. For instance, adverse effects due to antipsychotics such as prolactin levels sedation and extra pyramidal symptoms are somehow problematic. On the other hand, adverse metabolic effects of typical antipsychotics such as an increase in body mass index also contribute to non-adherence to medications (Teter et al., 2011). According to research, understanding the benefits of taking medication to alleviate problematic psychotic symptoms helps to improve willingness to allow the side-effects burden for mental wellness. Lots of research holds to the fact that the need for strong plus active therapeutic relations is vital for the promotion of adherence to medication. Other studies also suggest that therapeutic alliance is highly connected to medication adherence among the persons with Schizophrenia. On

FACTORS THAT COMPLICATE ADHERENCE TO MEDICATION 4the same note, other studies suggest that lack of adherence to medication among people increaseswith the low level of therapeutic alliance among individuals with schizophrenia (Subotnik et al., 2011). Research also points out that mentally ill people value help from pharmacologists about medication especially when they provide them with information concerning the adverse effects of the drugs show a good understanding of the person’s perspective as well as listens to the patient’s grievances regarding the medication (Velligan et al., 2010). Also, the experience of admission to the health centers is another crucial factor that determines willingness to take medics; lack of involvement in decision making when treating the patients, negative pressure when entering the health centers and the aspect of coercion are all connected to the lack of adherence to medications as Velligan et al, (2010) suggests.Studies also show that people having ‘a small extent of illness awareness’, as well as of a disease are much likely to demonstrate poor/lack of compliance to medication. Moreover, beliefsand perceptions towards adhering to drugs is also based on earlier experiences, socioeconomic and cultural aspects are also associated with lack of compliance to medication. According to Dunbar-Jacob et al., (2012) “these factors may result in the fact that the younger the age, the earlier the age of onset of schizophrenia and the shorter the lifespan of illness, the poorer the compliance rates become.” Nursing strategies to assist George Gain better adherence to his prescribedmedicationThe problem of patient’s non compliance to medication has been widely researched and the rates of lack of compliance have not changed much for the past decades (Australian, 2017).

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