Only the ones who don’t take their medication as prescribed. So that’s about 50% of them.

It’s hardly surprising that they don’t – older people are more likely to suffer from multiple diseases and therefore may have to administer three or more medications concurrently. They’re more susceptible to memory problems too, and many are afraid or suspicious about side effects.

But how can we go about banning certain people from being prescribed medication? Compliance isn’t an easy thing to find out. You certainly can’t rely on people to tell their doctors the truth. When asked ‘Are you taking your medication?’ most people will always reply ‘Yes’ regardless of whether they take it at the same time each morning or have never even opened the packet.

So if we can’t differentiate between the old people who take their medication and those who don’t, how can we go about stopping the huge waste of money that non-compliance costs to pharmaceutical companies each year?

One idea is that all packets of medication in the future could be alarmed. That alarm is activated every time a dose isn’t taken. A secret messaging device would transmit the alarm to the GP surgery or hospital where it was prescribed. ‘Three strikes and you’re out’.

Or perhaps secret cameras on the packaging will work. Naming and shaming. If a person ceases to take their medication their photo is plastered onto billboards or posters or newspapers: This person is a waste of money!

Sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it?

But isn’t it also silly that pharmaceutical companies spend billions on marketing their drugs yet almost nothing on keeping patients on them? Surely there are other ways to educate patients – whether they’re eighteen or eighty-two – about the importance of compliance. Like, maybe they need to know why they’re on a drug, or how it works.

Pensioners aren’t the Google generation. If pharma companies aren’t providing them with the information they need to feel confident about their medication, why should pensioners care about what they do or don’t take?

After all, it’s no money out of their pockets.

Sound extreme?

Perhaps. But did you know that side effects are one of the main reasons patients choose not to take their medication?

You can’t blame them. When was the last time you were prescribed something that had positive side effects? (‘This drug may cause shinier hair and longer legs’)

It’s amazing how many of us would rather suffer the future consequences of a condition (put it to the back of your mind), than have to deal with minor side effects today.

What we want is a miracle cure. In fact, we don’t just want it – we expect it. And we’re impatient. If medication isn’t making a notable difference within the first month of taking it, we decide it’s not working at all. If it might cause minor side effects? Forget it. We’d rather die.

Well not exactly. But the truth is we’re all a bit afraid. Any one who’s ever typed their symptoms or side effects into Google will have probably believed (albeit temporarily) they only had two weeks to live.

We often take for granted the importance of treatment, and the fact that side effects are all part of getting better. And why wouldn’t we? The pharma industry spends billions each year on marketing drugs yet hardly anything on keeping patients on them.

What we as patients need is information, advice and reassurance. We need to know what side effects may be common, and what definitely aren’t. And we need to understand that side effects are part of getting better. The pharma industry must find new ways of communicating, and help patients to feel more confident about taking their treatment.

Non-adherence is costing the pharma industry billions in lost revenue each year, but the health of patients? Surely that’s priceless.

Patients lie to healthcare professionals about a whole host of things, from their symptoms, to their past and lifestyle. It doesn’t have to mean outright fibbing either. Lying to a HCP could be simply the withholding of information.

So why do they do it?

The fact is patients (read: humans) have illogical thought processes and justifications for their behaviour.  Most often it may be that they’re afraid of being judged, and want to be seen by their doctor in a positive light. How many times have you exaggerated or underplayed the truth about your diet, sexual activity, smoking, exercise, intake of alcohol, or recreational drug use?

Furthermore, a WebMD survey in 2004 found that 38% of patients lied or ‘stretched the truth’ about following their doctor’s instructions (and lets face it – those are the ones who admitted it).

But with the pharmaceutical industry losing an estimated $564 billion each year due to non-compliance, is this kind of lying really something we can afford to dismiss as ‘human nature’?

The answer is no.

When you consider that billions of dollars are spent marketing drugs each year, it’s absurd that so little is spent on drug adherence. The issue must be addressed. Communication between the healthcare industry and patients must be improved, for the sake of both patient’s health and the health of the industry itself.

Perhaps it’s the pharmaceutical industry that needs to start being honest with itself.

We received it for our work on the Vesicare Information Programme (VIP) on behalf of our client Astellas.

It’s great when everybody’s hard work gets this kind of recognition.

Who needs the Oscars, eh?

It’s hard to change old habits, and being told you have a condition that requires you to alter certain aspects of your lifestyle (diet, exercise, frequent medication), can be hard to stomach, and easy to put off.

We value ‘quality of life’ over quantity of lifespan.

Take hypertension. Despite the availability of effective treatment, it’s thought that more than half of patients treated for hypertension drop out of care entirely within a year of diagnosis.

Why?

Well, one answer may be to do with hypertension itself. As it has no obvious side effects it’s unlikely a patient prescribed medication will suddenly feel fitter, stronger, and healthier.

But there may be another reason too: human nature. Or something we could call ‘hyperbolic discounting’. This is when we place excessive importance on today rather than tomorrow, and are therefore less likely to take a medication today for the sake of a future benefit.

But where does this leave the healthcare provider? Medical ethics mean that a patient always has the right to accept or decline any treatment or advice a HCP may suggest. Of course, we know that the harmful effects of low adherence are immense. Hypertension isn’t called the ‘silent killer’ for nothing, and it’s certainly not the only illness that can be treated by medication that doesn’t offer immediate relief. But if doctors don’t have the time to measure adherence, how can patients be aware of the importance of taking their medication?

In many ways the responsibility comes down to pharmaceutical companies. After all, aren’t they themselves guilty of ‘hyperbolic discounting’? Why else would they pour billions of dollars into marketing drugs yet very little into compliance? In 2011 more than half the industry’s $956 billion worldwide revenue was lost to non-compliance – a figure that can’t be ignored.

Life may be too short, but the issue of non-compliance needs to be addressed.

And it needs to be sooner rather than later.

Smartphone apps are now used in many industries to help professionals perform their daily tasks more efficiently.

However, farming has thus far been rather overlooked.  ”I think the farming sector is one that high-tech organisations probably haven’t spent as much time on as they could,” admitted Martin Stiven, vice-president for business at UK mobile network T-Mobile.

This could be because of the isolated location of many farms – meaning poor broadband access. Yet, with the ever-increasing population and urbanisation causing farming land to shrink, farmers have a bigger challenge than ever ahead.

Which is why it’s great that the next explosion of apps seems set to be in the farming sector.

Farmers across the board have been passing on their ideas for useful apps to the people with the technology and know-how to make their visions a reality.

One farmer suggested an app to detect stock units in each field and alert you if there is a sudden drop in these numbers.

This process shows the use of new technology at its most advantageous.

It is also a great example of companies building relationships with their potential consumers, listening to their customers’ needs and acting upon them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15882852

In their newest change to profile displays, Facebook is now going to display information as a ‘timeline’ – photographs, events, conversation and more, from your past present and future, will all be shown simultaneously. In other words, not just the present tense is the focus anymore.

With the price of advertising on Facebook increasing 74%, according to the financial times, it seems that this forum is in high demand.

This interesting article by Geoff Gower considers the impact of the Facebook timeline.

http://dmblogged.brandrepublic.com/2011/10/03/facebook-just-buried-the-present-tense/

Each fortnightly issue includes a small reproduction of one of the cars, as well as a jam packed magazine and full-colour pull-out poster. The Ferrari magazine, previously released in Germany and the UK, will now also be released in Russia, and the Supercars magazine in Japan.

The attention to detail on the shoot was amazing, from the perfectly positioned, polished miniature cars to the beautifully buffed fingers of our hand model!

Photographs can not capture the time, expertise, scrutiny and amount of equipment required for a 30 second ad – but the results, we think, were more than worth the effort.

However we are particularly impressed with their ‘Big Knit’ campaign, which, unsurprisingly, has enjoyed long term success.  It encourages people from all walks of life to knit a small hat, to fit on a bottle top. When one of these behatted bottles is purchased, 25p goes to charity.

Not only is it amusing and appealing in terms of package design, the warm little hats cleverly help persuade people that smoothies, often more appealing in the summer, are also a good choice for a winter drink.

Celebrities involved this year include Betty Jackson, Heston Blumenthal, Sienna Miller, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Savannah Mille.

Furthermore, as of this year, “the Big Knit” campaign is expected to have earned a total of over £1 million for Age UK.

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/bigknit/

Many believe that patients are responsible for their own adherence.

When prescribing new or different medication regimens, physicians spend most of the time explaining the purpose, side-effects, and how to take the medication — the ‘important stuff’. Little or no time is spent on consequences of non-adherence, potential interactions, and refills.

And what does it matter anyway? A patient forgets, on average, about half the information provided 15 minutes after meeting with a doctor. They remember the first third of the discussion best and remember more about diagnosis than about the details of treatment.

But consider this: as a result of this lack of communication about medications, patients are not being treated properly and the health industry is losing hundreds of millions in revenue. Adherence does matter, and it needs to matter more.