MedHerent: Improving Medication Adherence in Older Adults With Contextually Sensitive Alerts Through an Application That Adheres to You

Abstract

Medication adherence has long been viewed as a patient issue, but what if we shift this perspective? What if medications could adjust to the needs and context of patients, instead of the other way around? We used design thinking to create a contextually sensitive digital health mobile application to improve medication adherence in older adults. We define contextual sensitivity as sensitivity to the context of patient needs. Through persona and scenario ideation, interviews, evaluations of existing solutions, prototypes, and consultations with subject matter experts, we uncovered key barriers to medication adherence. We outline 4 key challenges: alert fatigue, poor health literacy, lack of social support, and lack of behavior change and motivation, which are specific to older adults. The resulting application features reminders and alerts, a dashboard and calendar, educational resources, social sharing, and reward features. These 5 elements emphasize the significance of design thinking, contextual sensitivity, trimodal alerts, and co-interventions in developing effective digital health solutions for medication adherence among older adults.