Mobile Technology and Health Literacy Regarding Medication Information

Abstract

Low health literacy is one of the main barriers to medication adherence. People with low literacy often have difficulty understanding health information and making appropriate health decisions. Currently, medication information is presented to populations with low health literacy in a way that is difficult to understand. On average, individuals with low health literacy can read at a fifth-grade level, while medication information tends to be presented in a manner targeted for individuals who can read at a tenth grade level. With current medication information too difficult to understand, low health literate populations are at a higher risk of misinterpreting prescription label instructions, dosage, duration, frequency, warning labels, written information and verbal pharmacist counseling. Therefore, pharmacists need to provide medication information that can be understood by individuals with low health literacy and is also adopted into a busy pharmacy practice. The objectives of this thesis included the following: 1) To systematically review the evidence on interventions for improving medication knowledge and adherence for low health literate populations, 2) To explore the major challenges low health literate adults face when trying to understand their medication therapy. 3) To design an innovative medication counseling tool that improves the medication knowledge of patients with low health literacy.