An electronic medication reminder, supported by a monitoring service, to improve medication compliance for elderly people living independently

Abstract

We conducted a pilot study of a personal medication reminder unit, supported by a monitoring service. A total of 31 elderly residents were offered the reminder service for a period of eight weeks (1736 person-days of service). A telephone call from the monitoring service was made after four weeks to check that each participant was happy with the service and keen to continue. No one opted out and users of the service found it easy to manage, helpful and acceptable. There was a significant improvement (P = 0.012) in the rate of self-assessed medication compliance, from pre (52%) to post (81%) service introduction. There was a significant improvement in people's perceived ability to look after themselves at home (self-care ability) (P = 0.001). The percentage of participants rating their ability to look after themselves at home as excellent increased from 42% to 68%. Health-related quality of life measures, such as physical and mental health, showed positive improvement, but the changes were not significant. The service has the potential to improve health and well-being outcomes for people on multiple medications living independently in the community.