Fifth annual med adherence challenge begins this month

The fifth annual Medication Adherence Team Challenge begins on January 19.

The two-month-long intercollegiate competition has health profession student teams and faculty creating solutions to raise awareness about medication adherence as a critical public health issue. The Challenge, coordinated by the National Consumers League (NCL), a consumer group and the lead organization on the national Script Your Future campaign, is returning to university campuses across the country after four years of successful student innovation. 

The Script Your Future campaign, launched in 2011, aims to combat the problem of poor medication adherence given that nearly three out of four patients are not taking their medication as directed. 

“We know that, by working together, healthcare professionals can help patients take their medications as directed in order to preserve and improve their health. The Challenge embraces this principle behind improving medication adherence and lays the foundation for adherence-minded care delivery among students before they enter the workforce,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director, in a release. 

The Challenge is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

From January 19 through March 18 interprofessional teams—including student pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and others—will implement outreach with creative approaches in their communities to raise awareness and improve understanding about medication adherence, using Script Your Future. At the end of the Challenge, select schools and their teams will be recognized nationally for their efforts to improve medication adherence.

Since the Challenge began in 2011, more than 6,000 future healthcare professionals have directly counseled more than 22,000 patients and reached more than nine million consumers in this concerted public effort about the importance of medication adherence.