Presentation ID #08: Click here to view presentation.
Background: In 2021, a systematic review was conducted on the effects of health literacy programs and medication adherence in African American adults. It has been shown that Chronic Health Diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, which affect the African American population due to low health literacy and medication adherence. There is little evidence supporting health literacy programs to improve medication adherence in African Americans, there is a need for updated review.
Objective: To identify, evaluate, and synthesize the evidence on the effects of health literacy programs and medication adherence in African Americans; as well as raise awareness of medication regimens and current disease processes in African Americans.
Design: A systematic review
Data Sources: In addition to previous review, with the most current literature from 2019. Four literature databases were searched for relevant resources from March 2021 to April 2021, with the only limitations of English language and full-text only.
Methods: Search results from Academic Complete, CINHALPlus, PubMed and Psychinfo were reviewed on 2/25/2021.
Results: One hundred and twelve unique studies were returned from online searches of the literature. Of these, seven were evaluated as pertaining to the chosen topic.
Conclusions: Studies confirmed that low health literacy leads to poor medication adherence, which confirms the hypothesis that health literacy programs will increase medication adherence in African Americans. A more randomized controlled design needs to be conducted to draw more definitive conclusions about how a health literacy program will improve medication adherence.
Trey Barrett lives in Asheville, NC with his wife Jessica and 2 boys, Eli and Zane. Trey works at Mission Hospital as a VAD (Ventricular Assist Device) Coordinator and has been a nurse for 10 years. His passion for his patients has served him well working with this unique and highly specialized patient population. He lives with his family on a small farm with cows, donkeys, chickens, ducks and a large garden. He loves spending time with his family outdoors.
Jordan Capps lives in Gastonia NC, he graduated from Nursing school with an Associates Degree in 2009 and then again in 2017 with a Bachelor”s degree. He is currently working on his Master’s in Nursing Administration. Jordan’s has been an Emergency Department Nurse for the past nine years. He’s looking forward to graduation in May of this year.
Shannon Izer lives in Kannapolis NC, she graduated from nursing school in 2014 and obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing in 2018. She is currently in the Master of Nursing program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a concentration in Nursing Education. The majority of her nursing career has been spent in the ambulatory setting holding several different positions as a clinical nurse. She enjoys working with her patients and plans to obtain her certification in diabetes care and education.
Julianna Petchul lives in Durham, NC working as a Triage nurse for Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) and pre-lung transplant patients. I am in my last semester at University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Once she receives her Master’s in Nurse Education in May, she would like to pursue a job as a Transplant Coordinator.
We as Nurses think it is important to be an advocate for patients because they often lack the knowledge that we take for granted as Health Care Professionals. As future nurse administrators and nurse educators it is our responsibility to contribute to those factors that keep patients safe. This leads to our poster which discusses the importance of medication adherence and improving health literacy. Increased health literacy will allow patients to better understand their chronic diseases and keep themselves safe.