Medication Adherence
Stressing the importance of medication adherence in the video,
especially for hydroxyurea came up in both the patient and parent focus
groups. Parent Participant 1 stated, ”We’ve tried almost everything.
When we go to the clinic, they spoke with him. But he’s still not
getting it. So I don’t know what else to do.”
Parent participant 4 suggested that maybe adding into the video the
importance of routine in medication adherence could be useful. They
shared: ”I always make sure after supper, I’ll prepare a plate where
I’ll put his tablets. So, it’s a routine. And because of that, it’s
easier to encourage him, because it’s not like I’m forcing it down on
him.”
Patient participants also stressed the importance of encouraging youth
to take their medication. This is especially important as youths take
charge of their SCA management, as patient participant 3 puts it, ”the
older you get, the more freedom you have. But it doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t take your medicine just because you’re older”. Patient
Participant 2 suggested it ”could be interesting to put on an
infographic… how hydroxyurea, how that’s useful and what your
life would look like, if you were taking your medicine every day versus
like, if you kind of just never took it.”