Script Your Future: National Campaign to Improve RI’s Medication Adherence

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

GoLocalProv Health Team

Rhode Islanders will benefit from a major national public awareness campaign that will help them take their medicine.

Yesterday, Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts joined with the National Consumers League (NCL) and local partners to launch Script Your Future, a campaign aimed at raising awareness among patients about the health consequences of not taking medication as directed.

More than one-third of medicine-related hospitalizations and almost 125,000 deaths in the United States each year are due to people not taking their medicine as directed.

Not taking meds: "A major public health concern."

“Non-adherence to medication is a major public health concern,” said Erin Arcand, Field Organizer for the NCL in Rhode Island. “The Script Your Future campaign will bring tools and resources to our state and provide

patients with a better awareness that will ultimately will improve medication adherence and lead to Rhode Islanders living healthier lives.”

The Script Your Future campaign is dedicated to promoting medication adherence education and awareness in Rhode Island and across the nation. Providence, RI is one of six regional city markets where the campaign will pilot activities, research and advertising. The other regional markets are: Baltimore, MD; Birmingham, AL; Cincinnati, OH; Raleigh, NC; and Sacramento, CA.

Free texts, medication lists, and fact sheets

Script Your Future aims to educate and offer practical tools for patients to help them better adhere. Tools include free text message reminders, sample questions, medication lists, condition management sheets, and fact sheets on common chronic conditions, and can all be found on the campaign Web site, www.ScriptYourFuture.org.

“There are many different reasons why people don’t take their medicine as directed, from concerns about side effects to the out-of-pocket costs of prescriptions," said Sally Greenberg, executive director of NCL. "But the consequences for patients are the same. Non-adherence puts patients, especially those with chronic conditions, at risk for serious complications.”

To learn more about the campaign, go to www.ScriptYourFuture.org.