Skills4Adherence

Increasing the capacity of medical professionals to manage patient adherence and polytherapy in elderly.

About the project

Patient non-adherence is widespread. According to the WHO report, it is present in approximately 50% of patients with chronic diseases. Obviously, this brings numerous negative health and financial consequences. Due to their multimorbidity, elderly citizens are particularly prone to this phenomenon.

Unfortunately, healthcare professionals are not fully aware of the prevalence of this problem, nor of the effective interventions to reduce it. Therefore, the aim of the Skills4Adherence Project was to increase the capacity of healthcare professionals to effectively manage adherence and polypharmacy in the elderly.

Thanks to the cooperation of the Skills4Adherence partners, the dedicated innovative vocational training program has been produced, and made available on-line. This training program is composed of 3 pillars: methods to improve patient adherence, prevention of polypharmacy, and methods to increase uptake of adherence-enhancing interventions in the elderly.

Skills4Adherence course is available in 4 languages:

    English      Italian   Polish Language   Polish      Portugese

Take your Skills4Adherence training course, test your knowledge, and get a certificate!

Skills4Adherence project was co-financed by the ERASMUS + Program, and was developed in the period 2017-2020.

Skills4Adherence Summer School 2018 participants with their certificates

Participants of the Skills4Adherence Summer School 2019 (Pavia, 9-13 September, 2019)

Publications

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Maffoni M, Traversoni S, Costa E, Midão L, Kardas P, Kurczewska-Michalak M, Giardini A. Medication adherence in the older adults with chronic multimorbidity: a systematic review of qualitative studies on patient’s experience. Eur Geriatr Med. 2020 Jun; 11(3):369-381.
Granata N, Traversoni S, Kardas P, Kurczewska-Michalak M, Costa E, Midão L, Giardini A. Methodological features of quantitative studies on medication adherence in older patients with chronic morbidity: A systematic review. Patient Educ Couns. 2020 Oct; 103(10):2132-2141.
Giardini A, Maffoni M, Kardas P, Costa E. A cornerstone of healthy aging: do we need to rethink the concept of adherence in the elderly? Patient Prefer Adherence. 2018 Jun 11; 12:1003-1005.
Midão L, Giardini A, Menditto E, Kardas P, Costa E. Polypharmacy prevalence among older adults based on the survey of health, ageing and retirement in Europe. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2018 Sep-Oct; 78:213-220. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2018.06.018. Epub 2018 Jun 30. PMID: 30015057.
Midão, Luís, et al. “Adherence to Medication in Older Adults as a Way to Improve Health Outcomes and Reduce Healthcare System Spending.” in Gerontology. Chapter 2. IntechOpen, 2017.
Liotta G, Canhao H, Cenko F, Cutini R, Vellone E, Illario M, Kardas P, Poscia A, Sousa RD, Palombi L, Marazzi MC. Active Ageing in Europe: Adding Healthy Life to Years. Front Med (Lausanne). 2018 Apr 30; 5:123.
Menditto E, Cahir C, Aza-Pascual-Salcedo M, Bruzzese D, Poblador-Plou B, Malo S, Costa E, González-Rubio F, Gimeno-Miguel A, Orlando V, Kardas P, Prados-Torres A. Adherence to chronic medication in older populations: application of a common protocol among three European cohorts. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2018 Oct 5; 12:1975-1987.

Pillars of Skills4Adherence educational programme for students and healthcare professionals
Pillars of skills4adherence

Skills4Adherence Project Partners

  • Medical University of Lodz
  • ICS Maugeri
  • University of Porto
Medical university of Lodz

Medical University of Lodz is a university created in 2002 from a merge of civil and military medical schools, with overall tradition of over 70 years. With its 8 divisions and 7 teaching hospitals, 10.000 students and app. 1600 academics, MUL belongs to the leading Polish medical universities. MUL is strongly committed to scientific research as well as national and international scientific cooperation.

Major areas of activity
1.
MUL provides the best possible conditions for students in the course of education in various biomedical disciplines.
2.
MUL conducts research characterized by outstanding quality and supports the development of its employee.
3.
MUL addresses demographic challenge caused by ageing, by providing tailored innovative educational and research services.
4.
MUL makes a substantial contribution to the development of the health care system by promoting modern standards of prophylaxis and treatment, and by building long-lasting cooperation with institutions realizing objectives of public health at regional, national and international levels.
5.
MUL responds to the needs of the society, initiating social and business innovation (e.g. EIP on AHA Reference Site ‘Lodz4Generations’).
Role/contribution in Skills4Adherence:
1.
Scientific and administrative coordination of Skills4Adherence consortium.
2.
Leadership of Task O1/A2 "The Report on Interventions to Prevent Polytherapy in the Elderly", Task O1/A6 "The Training Programme on Interventions to Prevent Polytherapy in the Elderly ", and Task O1/A8 "Analysis of Results of the Pilot Stationary Training and E-Learning Courses for Medical Professionals Concerning Actions Aimed at Improving Patient adherence and Preventing Polytherapy".
3.
Management of the dissemination of the project results, including appointment of the Dissemination Manager.
Key people involved:
Prof. Przemysław Kardas MD, PhD
Skills4Adherence Scientific coordinator
Dr. Paweł Lewek, Researcher
Skills4Adherence Dissemination Manager
Marta Kurczewska-Michalak, Researcher
Skills4Adherence Quality Assurance Manager
Website: www.umed.pl
ICS Maugeri

Founded in 1965 by Prof. Salvatore Maugeri, the Fondazione S. Maugeri operates under agreement with the Istituti Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS in the field of rehabilitation medicine with the main mission of reintegrating subjects suffering from chronic diseases to an active life. With its 10 Institutes recognized by the Minister of Health as Institutes for Research, Clinical Care, and Science (IRCCS), 8 clinical institutes, and 650 resident medical doctors, ICS Maugeri is the Italian leading group in rehabilitation medicine.

Major areas of activity
1.
ICS Maugeri is focused on patients’ treatment, on clinical and translational research and on specialized teaching about rehabilitation medicine.
2.
Internationally recognized center specialized in chronic patients’ care and in the management of their disabilities.
3.
Treatment delivered through a unique model of care by addressing multiple comorbidities and by meeting the criteria of personalized medicine.
4.
Specialized in neurorehabilitation, cardiac rehabilitation and pulmonary rehabilitation.
5.
Research is conducted in more than 50 laboratories endowed with state of the art equipment to allow advanced scientific research.
6.
The majority of the staff members are involved in academic teaching with several partner Universities and they are dedicated to disseminating ICS Maugeri model of clinical rehabilitation.
Role/contribution in Skills4Adherence:
1.
Leadership of Task O1/A3 "Report on Interventions Motivating the Elderly to Take Action to Improve Adherence to Therapeutic Recommendations and to Prevent Polypragmasy”, and Task O1/A7 " The Training Programme on Interventions Motivating the Elderly to Improve Adherence to Therapeutic Recommendations and Prevent Polypragmasy".
2.
Activities: Organisation of Skills4Adherence 2019 Summer School for students and healthcare professionals (September 2019).
3.
Sharing experience in the field of patient adherence management, particularly related to clinical practice with chronic patients’ management and psychological and social issues knowledge.
Key people involved:
Anna Giardini
Psychologist and Psychotherapist and Responsible of the digital organizational development (Project manager of the Clinical Care Pathways' digitalization) at ICS Maugeri – IRCCS Pavia, Contract professor at University of Pavia, Coordinator of Skills4Adherence at ICS Maugeri
Antonia Pierobon
Psychologist and Psychotherapist at ICS Maugeri – IRCCS Pavia, Scientific Institute of Montescano (PV), Contract professor at Sigmund Freud University – Milano
Marina Maffoni
Psychologist at ICS Maugeri – IRCCS Pavia, Scientific Institute of Montescano (PV), PhD Student in Psychology, Neuroscience and Data Science, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences - University of Pavia
Nicolò Granata
Psychologist, Researcher at ICS Maugeri – IRCCS Pavia, Scientific Institute of Montescano (PV)
Silvia Traversoni
Psychologist, Researcher at ICS Maugeri – IRCCS Pavia, Scientific Institute of Montescano (PV)
Website: www.icsmaugeri.it
University of Porto

UPORTO is Portugal’s second largest University and one of the most prestigious teaching and research institutions in the country: 30.000 students (around 6.000 from the foreign countries), 2.400 academic staff (89% of PhD holders) and 1.600 non-teaching staff. Being composed of fourteen different faculties.
Currently, UPORTO hosts 49 research centres (9 of them are state associated labs) covering a wide range of areas, from humanities to sciences, technologies and health.

Major areas of activity
1.
Global training - cultural, scientific, technical, artistic, civic and ethical – as part of the diverse processes of teaching and learning, aiming for the development of specific and transferrable skills and competences, and the dissemination of knowledge;
2.
Scientific research and cultural and artistic development, involving the discovery, acquisition and development of knowledge and practices at advanced level;
3.
The social value of knowledge and its transfer to economic and social agents, as drivers of innovation and change;
4.
The preservation and dissemination of scientific, cultural and artistic heritage for the creative use of experts and the public;
5.
The contribution, in its field of activity, to international cooperation and bridging the gap between people.
Key people involved:
1.
Leadership of Task O1/A1 "The Report on Interventions to Improve Adherence to Therapeutic Recommendations in the Elderly", Task O1/A4 "The Integration of Reports and Creation of Coherent Contents for Inclusion in the Final Programme of Professional Education and Training ", and Task O1/A5 "The Training Programme on Interventions to Improve Adherence to Therapeutic Recommendations in the Elderly".
2.
Activities: Organisation of Skills4Adherence 2018 Summer School for medical students and healthcare professionals (September 2018).
3.
Sharing experience in the field of patient adherence management, particularly the one gained due to coordination of the EIP on AHA Reference Site ‘Porto4Ageing’.
Key people involved:
Elísio Costa
Professor of Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Porto, and Coordinator of Competences Centre on Active and Healthy Ageing of University of Porto, Portugal. Coordinator of Skills4Adherence project implementation at University of Porto.
Constança Paul Torgal
Full Professor at Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute and Researcher in CINTESIS – Centre for Health Technology and Services Research, University of Porto, Portugal.
Luís Midão
Researcher at UCIBIO/REQUIMTE and Competences Centre on Active and Healthy Ageing of University of Porto, Portugal.
Bárbara Costa
Director of the International Office, Erasmus+ Institutional Coordinator
Ana Reis
International Officer
Website: www.up.pt