Assessing a Medication Safety and Disposal Educational Program using the Health Belief Model

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Public Health
• Health Education

Background:

• Growing self-medication practices increase risks of medication harm.
• Pharmacists play a key role in ensuring safe medication use, storage, and disposal.
• Healthcare providers face challenges due to unintended injuries from medication misuse.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a medication safety and disposal educational program on community members.
• To evaluate perceived behavior change using the Health Belief Model (HBM).
• To provide comprehensive informational support for safe medication practices.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Health Belief Model (HBM) to assess perceptions of benefits and barriers to safe medication practices.
• Developed and administered an 8-item pre/post survey using a 5-point Likert scale.
• Conducted an educational program for community participants.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant improvements were observed in understanding risks of herbal/OTC products (p=0.021).
• Participants showed increased awareness of proper medication disposal methods (p=0.044) and comprehension of 'Drug Facts' labels (p=0.004).
• Improved understanding of OTC label information to prevent interactions (p=0.008) and routine review of expiration dates (p=0.019) were noted.

Conclusions:

• A comprehensive educational approach can significantly improve community knowledge and skills in medication safety.
• The program demonstrated potential for enhancing medication harm reduction practices.
• The Health Belief Model effectively gauged participants' understanding and perceived behavior change.