Communication Strategies to Improve Medication Adherence: A Systematic Review of Literature

Less than optimal medication adherence is a persisting issue among many patient groups, resulting in poorer health outcomes along with increased strain on financial and time resources. However, communication strategies employed by clinicians may offer a simple, cost-effective method for improving medication adherence and health outcomes. We conducted a review of literature that rendered search results from seven databases, resulting in 1,513 abstracts. A final sample of 44 studies was included to compare the effectiveness of communication-based adherence strategies among various health conditions. After reviewing the full text of included studies, we organized communication strategies into four categories: patient reminders, collaborative communication, patient education, and counseling strategies. Although all of the strategies indicated some level of success, studies examining patient education components showed the most promise both in generalizability and results. This review’s results indicate that a need remains for quantitative research examining the effectiveness of these strategies to increase medical adherence.