Collaborative Medication Adherence for Elderly Adults In a Home Environment

Senior citizens typically fail to follow their prescribed medication regimens. Separate studies report that adherence to long-term therapy for chronic illness is less than 50%%%% . Failure to take medicines as prescribed significantly increases the likelihood of negative health outcomes (e.g. worsening of condition, relapse etc.). For example, studies suggest that 11%%%% of elderly hospital admissions and 24%%%% of nursing home admissions are due to medication non-adherence. We developed an image enabled intervention system whereby a remote informal caregiver (e.g., a family member) can collaborate with a senior citizen living at home to improve medication adherence. This demonstrated the technical feasibility of remote image monitoring of medication dispensers/organizers including validating the pill dispenser's initial population and subsequent medication removal.