A peer support programme for enhancing adherence to oral antipsychotic medication in consumers with schizophrenia

AIMS: To assess if consumers with schizophrenia who were non-adherent to their oral antipsychotic medication had improved adherence and mental state, after participating in a problem-solving based peer support programme. BACKGROUND: Many people with schizophrenia are reluctant to take their antipsychotic medications. Peer support, combined with a problem-solving approach, could be used as a strategy to improve adherence outcomes. A peer is an individual with mental illness who offers support to others. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental time-series design was used to measure the effect of the problem-solving based peer support programme on adherence and mental state. METHOD: Consumers who were non-adherent to oral antipsychotic medication were recruited from February 2009-June 2010. Peers contacted consumers by a weekly 20-minute telephone call for 8 weeks. Mental state was measured using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-E and medication adherence was measured by self-report at baseline, postintervention (week 8) and follow-up (week 14). Data were analysed using the Friedman's test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test for pair-wise comparisons. RESULTS: The study included 22 consumers and six peers: 19 males, mean age 35·1 years. Improvements were identified in medication adherence, negative symptoms and overall mental state between baseline and week 8. These improvements were maintained at week 14. CONCLUSION: Medication adherence may be enhanced with the addition of a peer support intervention. A problem-solving based peer support programme could be implemented in the community setting for patients who are non-adherent with oral antipsychotic medication.