Adult Patients with Schizophrenia and Noncompliance with Antipsychotics

Abstract

Greater than half of the population of patients with schizophrenia struggle to comply with their antipsychotic medications due to various factors. Psychiatric providers heavily rely on their patients to comply with their antipsychotic medications to improve their overall quality of life. The purpose of this DNP Project was to implement Psychoeducation via a Teach-Back Method intervention in adult Schizophrenic patients who are voluntarily noncompliant with their antipsychotic medications among residents in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Model of Improvement framework was utilized to help develop the project’s aims, and goals and the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle was used to develop the project’s intervention, implement the intervention, and evaluate the results. Psychoeducation was used to educate the patients about the pathophysiology and symptoms of schizophrenia and how antipsychotic medication counteract their symptoms to improve their overall quality of life. The Teach-Back Method helps psychiatric providers provide psychoeducation in layman’s term so patients can understand the information. Understanding can be assessed by asking patients to verbalize the educational information back to the provider. Five participants ages 18 years old and older, diagnosed with schizophrenia who are voluntarily noncompliant with their antipsychotic medications were included in the DNP Project. Each participant was assessed for their baseline medication noncompliance, and the Psychoeducation via Teach-Back Method was implemented. Each participant had a follow-up visit 2 weeks Post-Intervention to evaluate their medication compliance. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to determine if the participant was compliant or noncompliant with their antipsychotic medications per definition. The data showed that all five participants showed an improvement in medication compliance (Post-Intervention) compared to their baseline medication noncompliance (Pre-Intervention). The data also showed 3 out of the 5 participant’s Post-Intervention results indicate they were compliant with their antipsychotic medications per definition of medication compliance. Overall, psychiatric providers should implement the Psychoeducation via Teach-Back Method intervention in adult patients with Schizophrenia who are voluntarily noncompliant with their antipsychotic medications to improve medication compliance and improve their patients overall quality of life.