Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects
Access Control
Campus Access
Degree Program
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Degree Track
Family Nurse Practioner
Year Degree Awarded
2022
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/28613930
Month Degree Awarded
May
Advisor
Pamela Aselton PhD, FNP- BC
DNP Project Outside Member Name
Mary-Anne Grafton
Abstract
Background: Older adults often suffer from comorbid conditions, impaired mobility, and lack of transportation, all of which can impact medication adherence.
Purpose: This project sought to analyze the impacts of dose sorted home delivered medication use on health outcomes in older adults and promote its use at a senior center.
Methods: The DNP student intended to assist older adults in enrolling in home delivery pharmacy services, however no participants enrolled. This project then gathered feedback from older adults on hesitancy to utilize online pharmacies as well as professional opinions of pharmacists and nurse practitioners on potential barriers to online pharmacy use. This qualitative data was gathered via in-person interviews and common themes were reviewed with the project chair.
Results: Pharmacists and nurse practitioners identified that medication adherence is impaired in this population but thought that many patients either do not recognize the problem or do not see impaired adherence as problematic. Mail order pharmacy services may be beneficial for this population, but many older adults prefer in-person interaction. The older adults who were interviewed liked visiting their pharmacy and did not want to change. Providers also have little knowledge of or experience with these services and therefore do not recommend them to patients.
Conclusions: Impaired medication compliance is a problem for older adults, providers, and the healthcare system. Mail order pharmacy services may alleviate this, but older adults and providers are hesitant to use them. Future projects may benefit from addressing the reasons for hesitancy to utilize these services.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.