Motivational interviewing and specialty pharmacy.

It is well documented in substance abuse and health care literature that motivational interviewing is an evidenced-based and effective intervention for influencing patient behaviors and associated positive health outcomes. The introduction of motivational interviewing training in specialty pharmacy has great potential to increase patient and pharmacist satisfaction, maximize adherence rates, and improve health outcomes. This commentary examines the need for effective approaches for improving patient adherence and outcomes and briefly describes the history and efficacy of motivational interviewing.

Pharmacist self-reported antidepressant medication counseling.

Objectives: To identify the extent of pharmacists' self-reported antidepressant counseling (SRAC) and to identify factors that may affect pharmacists' decisions to provide antidepressant counseling.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Alabama community pharmacies in 2011.

Dispensing errors and counseling quality in 100 pharmacies.

Objective: To evaluate the dispensing accuracy and counseling provided in community chain pharmacies.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Community chain pharmacies in large metropolitan areas of Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York.

Use of personal digital assistants for documentation of pharmacists' interventions: a literature review.

Purpose: The literature describing pharmacists' use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) as intervention documentation tools in health systems is reviewed.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts to find articles whose title and abstract indicated that the articles' content addressed pharmacists' use of PDAs as intervention documentation tools. Qualitative analyses were conducted to characterize the existing literature on pharmacists' use of PDAs to document interventions in health systems.

Learning motivational interviewing: scripting a virtual patient.

Objectives: This article describes a written assignment for a first-year professional communication course to facilitate the understanding and mastery of motivational interviewing in dealing with patient ambivalence and resistance. The goal was to immerse students in how motivational interviewing differs from traditional biomedical counseling with regard to phrasing individual responses to the patient and managing the flow of interaction.

Methods: Students were required to write a script for a working prototype of the Auburn University Virtual Patient.

Patient decision making: strategies for diabetes diet adherence intervention.

Background: Patient self-care is critical in controlling diabetes and its complications. Lack of diet adherence is a particular challenge to effective diabetes intervention. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Change, decision-making theory, and self-efficacy have contributed to successful tailoring of interventions in many target behaviors.

Medication adherence and persistence: a comprehensive review.

Estimates of adherence to long-term medication regimens range from 17% to 80%, and nonadherence (or nonpersistence) can lead to increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Multifaceted interventions that target specific barriers to adherence are most effective, because they address the problems and reinforce positive behaviors. Providers must assess their patients' understanding of the illness and its treatment, communicate the benefits of the treatment, assess their patients' readiness to carry out the treatment plan, and discuss any barriers or obstacles to adherence that patients may have.

Evaluation of software-based telephone counseling to enhance medication persistency among patients with multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a software-supported intervention based on the Transtheoretical Model of Change and motivational interviewing on decreasing discontinuation (or increasing persistency) of Avonex (interferon beta-1a--Biogen), a medication for treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Design: Randomized controlled experimental design comparison of software-based telephone counseling (intervention group) and standard care (control group).

Setting: United States.

Predicting treatment discontinuation among patients with multiple sclerosis: application of the transtheoretical model of change.

Objective: To delineate factors associated with discontinued use of the multiple sclerosis (MS) medication Avonex (interferon beta-1a--Biogen) as part of an effort to develop an intervention to promote treatment persistency.

Design: In-depth telephone interviews followed by a 12-page written questionnaire delivered by mail.

Setting: United States.

Improving adherence and persistence: a review and assessment of interventions and description of steps toward a national adherence initiative.

Objectives: To identify the effectiveness of adherence interventions reported in the literature, to identify interventions being conducted and/or sponsored by large chain pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and to seek input from a panel of pharmacists who address adherence issues on a daily basis as to the steps that should be taken to advance a national initiative to increase awareness of the importance of and opportunities associated with medication adherence and persistence.

Main Outcome Measure: Effectiveness of the adherence interventions reported in the literature.

Methods: First, a literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, CINAHL, and PsycINFO.