Students to Focus on Patient Health, Education Through Script Your Future
Three in four people struggle to take their medications as prescribed. Though the reasons for non-adherence vary, the health consequences can be serious.
Students from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) are participating in the Script Your Future Team Challenge so as to educate others and raise awareness of the importance of medication adherence as a critical health issue. Students will offer a number of events for the community, including the elderly and college students who are preparing for careers in the health professions, to emphasize the Challenge’s theme: “Take the Pledge to Take Your Meds.”
“Medication adherence is critical to achieving positive health outcomes and containing costs,” Hershey Bell, MD, Dean of the School of Pharmacy, said during a press conference to announce LECOM’s participation in the Challenge. “It is incumbent upon all healthcare providers to help patients understand the importance of this issue — this is what Script Your Future is about, and it represents a valuable opportunity for our students and faculty to live LECOM’s mission of service and promoting improved health for all.”
Esther Baah, a second-year student pharmacist and president of the Student Government Association for the Class of 2016, also highlighted the importance of medication adherence in patient health, and particularly those with chronic diseases, like diabetes.
“More than one in three medication-related hospitalizations are the result of non-adherence,” Baah said. “Almost 125,000 deaths annually are attributable to people failing to take their medications as prescribed. These statistics are staggering, and can be changed for the better if we work to educate patients. Script Your Future allows us to do just that.”
Said Abbey Krysiak, PharmD, Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist at LECOM, “We are proud that our students dedicate many, many hours to an issue as important as medication adherence.”
LECOM has won numerous awards for its efforts in the Script Your Future Challenge. LECOM was named the national winner of the Challenge in 2012, and received honorable mention status in 2013. In 2014, LECOM had the distinction of being chosen for the Challenge’s National Team Award and the Creative Inter-professional Team Event Award. The College’s medical and dental students also take part in events that emphasize the importance of medication adherence.
During the press conference to announce LECOM’s participation in Script Your Future, Erie County (Pa.) Executive Kathy Dahlkemper presented the College with a proclamation in recognition of LECOM’s efforts to address a critical public health issue. “I commend LECOM and the School of Pharmacy for taking a program like Script Your Future and running with it,” she said. “LECOM is a valued partner, and we are grateful for your commitment to educating others and the health of the community.”
More About Script Your Future
Chronic health conditions potentially can deprive you of a long and full life, particularly if you don’t manage the condition. The Script Your Future campaign is designed to help patients ensure their long-term health and wellness by taking their medicines as directed.
Script Your Future helps people manage health conditions such as diabetes, COPD, asthma, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Understanding these types of conditions, and taking medications correctly, are of the utmost importance. Script Your Future can help patients by providing the tools to manage their medicines, and with sample questions to help start a conversation with their doctor, pharmacist, or nurse.
The National Consumers League (NCL) leads Script Your Future, with partners from every sector of the health care system, including health care professionals, patient communities, family caregivers, pharmacies, health insurance plans, pharmaceutical companies and associations, and government agencies and researchers.
The Script Your Future campaign also includes coordinated national communications, paid advertising, and targeted outreach in six cities nationally: Birmingham, Al.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Baltimore, Md.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Providence, R.I.