Patient compliance with prescribed medication remains a challenge for doctors. Frequently, patients are given medicine but fail to comply with the prescribed dosages, often failing to take the medication though it's prescribed time period. With this in mind, NVC Netherlands Packaging Centre has asked a question: Can package design of medication affect the patient adherence?
They believe so:
Designing packaged medicinal products in the proper way, may significantly contribute to the improvement of healthcare by stimulating, supporting and enabling an effective adherence of the patient to the medication prescribed.
It would have to be a team effort among many parties, including the physicians, the doctors, and the package designers. But what specific factors are influenced by the package design?
Take point-of-consumption (POC) as starting point for packaging design.
Apply available and possible newly developed communicative and behavioural insights into packaging.
Use packaging to facilitate and stimulate positive feedback loops between patient and healthcare providers.