FLAVORx Focusing on Nurse Practitioners to Help Drive Higher Pediatric Medication Adherence
Columbia, Maryland (PRWEB) September 26, 2013 -- FLAVORx, the leader in pediatric medication adherence, today announced the availability of their Pediatric Adherence Toolkit for Nurse Practitioners. This free kit contains materials nurse practitioners can use in their daily practice to:
• Engage children and parents in discussions about their past experiences taking medication.
• Determine whether taste will be a factor impeding higher adherence.
• Discuss taste options that are available and where FLAVORx can be found.
• Ensure that pharmacists get the message (whether written or electronic) that the patient prefers a custom-flavored medication.
As the nation’s most trusted professionals, nurse practitioners are able to discuss and identify medication barriers, like taste or swallowing, and are then able to educate and help patients and their parents overcome them. Emphasizing the importance of medication adherence and easing the struggles of medication administration encourages proactive and cooperative behaviors in both children and parents.
“We had to change a child to a generic form of his maintenance medication and he refused to take the medication because he didn't like the taste,” said Mary Beth Koslap-Petraco DNP, PNP-BC, CPNP, FAANP. “We went to the FLAVORx Flavor Wheel to match the flavor he was used to. Once the FLAVORx was added, the child took the generic medication without any difficulty! Problem solved!”
FLAVORx enables prescribers to use evidence-based medicine to select first-line therapy regardless of a medication’s inherent palatability profile. FLAVORx products not only mask unpleasant tasting medicine, but allow the child to participate in their own treatment by selecting how their medicine will taste. Customization of medication flavors accommodates for palatability issues as well as the individual preferences of each patient. Coupling the power of choice with the power of taste-masking leads to improved medication adherence, improved patient experience, and positive health outcomes.
“Our first step is to encourage providers to acknowledge the importance of taste and palatability to children and parents,” said Ursula Chizhik, PharmD, Director of Pharmacy Programs at FLAVORx. “The unpleasant taste of medication is consistently cited as an obstacle to pediatric medication adherence and should therefore be a key consideration in the management of all pediatric acute and chronic conditions.”
Nurse practitioners who are interested in receiving a free Pediatric Adherence Toolkit should visit the FLAVORx website or call their toll free phone number - (800) 884-5771.
About FLAVORx
FLAVORx has been helping children take their medicine since 1994. The FLAVORx service is available in nearly all chain pharmacies, grocers, mass merchants, and many local independent pharmacies – over 40,000 locations in all. Using FLAVORx copyrighted flavoring recipes, pharmacists have safely flavored more than 50 million prescription and over-the-counter medications, making it easier for children to take their medicine and for parents to give it. For up to the minute information on FLAVORx, follow the company on Facebook and Linkedin.
Chad Baker, FLAVORx, http://www.flavorx.com, +1 (800) 884-5771 218, [email protected]
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