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.”