Eighty-seven-year-old Lavenia DeBerry lives in an assisted living facility. She is quite capable of caring for herself and is strongly independent. Today, she has come to her health care provider’s...

Eighty-seven-year-old Lavenia DeBerry lives in an assisted living facility. She is quite capable of caring for herself and is strongly independent. Today, she has come to her health care provider’s office with fever and a productive cough that she has had for the past 10 days. She admits to self-medicating with various “leftover” antibiotics. She had hoped that one of the antibiotics would cure her infection. Lavenia is also on a medication for high blood pressure and diabetes. However, she has been known to take her medications inconsistently. She says she does not like taking pills and most of the time she feels pretty good without them. She has difficulty remembering to take medications. Ms. DeBerry states that sometimes “I forget whether I’ve taken the medication or not. Besides, I don’t want to become dependent on any medications.”

1. What factors contribute to nonadherence with medication regimens?

2. Identify ways to promote patient adherence with medication regimens.

3. Prepare a list of concepts to teach the patient about taking medications.

4. What factors influence effective patient teaching related to drug therapy.