(1037) Improving Medication Literacy and Medication Adherence in Spanish-speaking Communities Through a Community Pharmacy Intervention

Objectives: Hispanics/Latinx are one of the largest minority populations in the United States and have a disproportionate risk for chronic conditions. According to the most recent results of Health Literacy of America’s Adults from 2003, 41% of Hispanic/Latinx population had a “below basic” health literacy level and had lower average health literacy than adults in any other racial/ethnic groups. According to 2022 Census data, 195,889 people were estimated to live in Knoxville, TN and Hispanic/Latinx individuals were 5.7% of the population. Much of the Hispanic/Latinx community have language barriers that impact health literacy and managing their health. The inadequate number of Spanish-speaking pharmacists contributes to medication nonadherence. Low health literacy is correlated to poor health outcomes. Assessing an individual’s health literacy and adherence with appropriate tools in the community setting can address and improve health disparities among the underserved Hispanic/Latinx community. Hispanic/Latinx people are underrepresented in research and incorporating best practices of health literacy into studies is limited. Current literature shows patients improve medication adherence after pharmacist intervention. The purpose of this project is to determine the impact of pharmacist engagement in a community partnership intervention to improve medication literacy. A secondary objective will be to explore the intervention’s impact on medication adherence among Spanish-speaking communities. This project will be completed through partnership with a local church, focusing on patients who speak Spanish as their primary language.

Methods: This prospective, three-month, interventional non-controlled trial will be conducted through a Spanish-speaking pharmacist at a grocery chain pharmacy partnering with a local church located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Inclusion criteria will be 18-64 years old who speak Spanish as their primary language. Exclusion criteria will be patients aged < 18 years or > 64 years old or those who can speak Spanish as a non-primary language. The baseline interaction is intended to gather baseline data on medication literacy and adherence using the Spanish version of the Medication Literacy Assessment in Spanish & English (MedLitRxSE) and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS)-8 surveys respectively. Also at baseline, all patients will be screened for barriers to care due to social determinants of health via survey and will receive Spanish pill organizers and be provided individualized verbal medication counseling and written Spanish language patient education. The second interaction will occur one month after baseline to address any questions or concerns relating to the education encounter and to complete a patient satisfaction survey. During the final encounter three months after baseline, patients will complete the post-intervention MedLitRxSE and MMAS-8 surveys.

Results: Results are pending and will be reported at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in March 2024.

Conclusions: The study will potentially lead to improvement in medication literacy and adherence through this community pharmacist intervention of engaging in community partnership.