Forgetfulness is a primary factor of medication nonadherence, a problem that contributes to worse health outcomes and increased mortality among people with chronic conditions. Common strategies to address forgetfulness, such as timed reminders, have limited effectiveness. However, there is limited information about why these strategies fail. To address this gap, we conducted interviews with people who take medications daily and miss doses at least twice a month. We contribute a state-based Medication Routine Framework composed of four states (Wellness, New Task, Erratic, and Disruption) in two axes (regularity and time scale). Because most nonadherence due to forgetfulness occurs in nonroutine states (i.e., Erratic and Disruption state), we argue that improving technology for medication adherence requires designing for these states. In this paper, we describe each state in detail and discuss opportunities for adapting medication reminder strategies to overcome the challenges of nonroutine states.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3491102.3517519
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