Implementing Evidence-Based Design to Improve Adherence in Self-Administered Treatment Technology

A low level of treatment adherence is one of the challenges facing the UK's healthcare system. An estimated 30% to 50% of patients with chronic diseases fail to adhere to prescribed medical interventions. While medical technology provides an opportunity to overcome existing challenges, poor adherence blurs this opportunity by reducing the intervention's positive impact. The spread of the Covid pandemic dramatically increased the pressure on healthcare systems and highlighted the urgency to address the low adherence problem. Various studies have investigated the underlying factors behind low adherence. However, two main gaps were identified: 1) lack of adherence frameworks that consider self-administered treatment technology, and 2) lack of a practical mechanism to help companies consider adherence factors during the design and development of the technology.

This paper introduces the development of an Adherence Framework for self-administered treatment technology and a design-focused adherence canvas used as a practical resource for companies to consider during the design process. Adherence factor data from literature and case studies were triangulated to an eDelphi study used to develop the adherence framework. The presented adherence canvas and Adherence Framework allow companies to consider adherence during the design of self-administered treatment technology.