Patient adherence describes the extent to which a person’s behaviour – for example, taking medication, following a diet or executing lifestyle changes – corresponds with agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider. A growing body of evidence suggests that medication adherence programs have the potential to greatly reduce health spending and generate significant savings for taxpayers in the process.
This is already a major challenge, for example, research shows that patients not taking their medicines properly costs the UK’s National Health Service £500 million a year.
According to the World Health Organisation one of the factors that contributes to poor adherence is a lack of knowledge, as patients often misunderstand treatment instructions. Pharmaceutical packaging therefore plays an incredibly important role, given the information it provides that helps patients abide by the proper dosing schedule.
Reasons for patient non – adherence are complex and range from psychological to physical. One of the most common causes is down to lack of understanding and clear instructions. This means that leveraging the unique characteristics of packaging to help patients better understand how and why to take their medicine is growing.
Through the design hub, Essentra assess these common factors causing non-adherence to create a range of packaging solutions designed to aid adherence through clear display and by allowing adequate space for information and enhancing ease of use.
Through products like extended content labels, plurium leaflets and combopack, space for information can be maximised, without compromising the size of the packaging. These can also provide a secondary aesthetic advantage. Peelable labels are more impactful and interactive than words simply printed one-dimensionally, providing a more tangible and memorable experience.
To demonstrate our range of capabilities and innovations in patient adherence, the Design Hub created a demo carton to showcase a full suite of features from thermochromic ink, booklet literature to infographics for cross language communication and temperature indicator labels. In creating the demo carton we have showcased the full spectrum of solutions available through Essentra that have been specifically designed to aid patient adherence.
Our 'End-to-End Solutions Delivered' brochure outlines our capabilities and solutions.
Speak to a member of the team