Support groups and treatment adherence in a geriatric outpatient clinic

The misuse of prescription medication costs America between $30.1 and 136.8 billion each year through sickness, hospitalization, and death (M.J. Johnson, M. Williams,& E. S. Marshall, 1999). Despite the efforts of many researchers to address the issue of nonadherence, few validated solutions have been developed. The current study assessed the existing medication adherence rates of 30 male participants and subsequently assigned them to one of the two conditions. The experimental condition was a 5-week multicomponent treatment adherence support group, whereas the control condition was a 5-week attention control group. All members of both conditions were compared on the measures of pill count, Seniors' Lifestyle Inventory, and Symptom Checklist-90-R. Members of the treatment adherence support groups demonstrated a significant increase in their medication adherence rate over the 5-week course of intervention.