Development and Evaluation of a Reliable Medication Management Self-Assessment Checklist

Area of Science:

• Pharmacotherapy
• Patient Self-Management
• Health Education

Background:

• Ineffective medication use leads to significant drug-related morbidity and mortality.
• New approaches are needed to enhance patients' ability to self-manage medications.
• Comprehensive medication therapy management services show promise in improving patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel 4-step pharmacotherapy assessment process for patient medication self-management.
• To develop and assess the reliability of an Effective Medication Self-Management Toolkit and its associated checklist.
• To determine if patients and families can consistently apply the 4-step process to improve medication decision-making and confidence.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 4-step pharmacotherapy assessment process and an Effective Medication Self-Management Toolkit.
• Feasibility and acceptability evaluation using focus groups with 39 independent living residents.
• Internal consistency reliability assessment of the Medication Management Self-efficacy Checklist using Cronbach's alpha.

Main Results:

• Focus groups indicated participants perceived the 4-step process as helpful for medication self-management.
• The Medication Management Self-efficacy Checklist demonstrated good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.82).
• The toolkit and checklist appear feasible and acceptable for patient use.

Conclusions:

• The 4-step pharmacotherapy assessment process is a promising approach for enhancing patient medication self-management.
• The Medication Management Self-efficacy Checklist is a reliable measure of patient confidence in managing their medications.
• This novel approach supports improved patient decision-making and confidence in self-managing pharmacotherapy.