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

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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