Evaluating the Usability of a Medication Organizing Tool on Home Medication Management - A Proof-of-Concept Experiment

Abstract

Background: Chronic disease and medication self-management is a life-long process in which patient self-efficacy plays an important role in determining success. Efforts to improve self-management have traditionally focused on enhancing self-efficacy through medication and disease education, development of problem solving skills and decision making. These approaches have been proven to have moderate short-term benefits on clinical outcomes while evidence on long-term, post-intervention benefits is less convincing. In this project, we were interested in evaluating if patients would find a newly developed medication organizing tool (a.k.a. the MedManager) helpful to their medication and disease self-management processes. Methods: We conducted a proof-of-concept experiment where participants were introduced to the MedManager. A follow-up session was then conducted during which utilization of the MedManager was observed. Also during the follow-up session and using a semi-structured interview format, we explored participant’s perceived barriers in areas of medication therapy self-management as well as their perceived advantages of the MedManager in these areas. Quantitative and qualitative data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics, simple correlation and thematic analysis. Results: The MedManager was utilized by a number of our participants at follow-up, primarily for its storage function and portability. Interviews with participants revealed a number of perceived barriers with existing medication self-management strategies, perceived advantages of the MedManager and areas for product improvements. Conclusion: The MedManager were perceived as helpful by a number of participants; evidenced by their utilization of the tool at follow-up and the perceived advantages of the tool over existing medication self-management strategies expressed during interviews. A number of suggestions for product improvement offered by participants can be helpful to enhance the MedManager functionality in future versions.