Blog

Changing Non-Adherent Behavior

Medication adherence refers to the act of taking medication correctly and as prescribed. Good adherence is commonly defined as taking medication correctly at least 80% of the time. At CuePath, we start by understanding the attitudes and behaviors that are causing patients to not adhere to their medication prescription schedule. These causes fall into two categories: unintentional and intentional. Unintentional causes are the things that lead a patient to forget to take their meds in the proper dose at the appropriate time. Intentional causes are factors that lead to a decision to defer or discontinue taking medications for a period [...]

2023-01-05T11:12:53-08:00January 5th, 2023|Blog|

May 17th is World Hypertension Day

What Is Hypertension? Hypertension is known as the “silent killer”. An estimated ⅓ of US adults don’t even know they have it! Blood vessels harden and narrow as part of lifestyle choices as well as a natural part of aging. As people age, their blood vessels may become less elastic, leading to higher blood pressures. The reason we care about this is because high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks, strokes, dementia, heart failure, kidney failure, loss of vision and nerve damage. Hypertension hospitalization costs in the US have tripled to 15.1% of all hospitalizations in 2003-2006, at a [...]

2022-05-17T08:22:41-07:00May 17th, 2022|Blog|

April 24-30 is World Immunization Week

Introduction This week we celebrate World Immunization Week. From the annual flu shot to new technologies being incorporated into COVID prevention, vaccines have afforded us a longer, healthier life. While vaccines are commonly given to children to prevent common childhood ailments like chickenpox, mumps and rubella, as we age, vaccines play a key role in the prevention of severe disease later in life. Vaccines can not only prevent mortality (ie. dying) but also stop severe consequences of disease like chronic nerve pain and repeated blood clots. What is a vaccine? While the concept of vaccination can be traced back in [...]

2022-04-29T14:55:44-07:00April 29th, 2022|Blog|

Experiencing low energy, weight gain or memory problems? Consider the Thyroid.

Did you know that your risk of hypothyroidism increases as you enter older adulthood? In the US, upwards of 15% of adults over 65 years of age have thyroid levels that may be too low. This can range from 16-21% when looking at people 75 years and older. Low thyroid hormone (hypothyroid) can affect everything from brittle hair to low energy, and even memory issues. The thyroid is small but plays an important role in regulating many body systems. Learn more about hypothyroidism so you can identify if it’s time to talk to a doctor. What’s a thyroid? The thyroid [...]

2022-02-28T15:35:45-08:00February 28th, 2022|Blog|

6 Conditions That Can Get Mistaken as Dementia

Did you know 60% of Canadians fear that they'll be treated differently if diagnosed with dementia? It's a serious concern for persons 65 and older; dementia affects 55 million people worldwide with 10 million new diagnoses per year. Dementia is a chronic and progressive disease, there is no cure for it and therapy is centered around symptoms management and care. Dementia disproportionately affects women, who are 65% of the deaths, 60% more likely to have lower quality of life and provide 70% of the care related to dementia. There are many risk factors that contribute to developing dementia, the biggest [...]

2021-11-09T08:19:42-08:00November 8th, 2021|Blog|

Avoiding A Fall – Prevention Tips

Picture the following scenario: Grandma is in the kitchen preparing her dinner. She starts working away near the kitchen sink, preparing her favorite recipe. Grandma missed her lunch hour dose of medications that included statins to reduce her cholesterol. As she starts to wash her vegetables, she hears the phone ring. She turns off the faucet, wipes her hands dry and as she scurries to pick up the phone. As she has exerted herself to prepare dinner, and then dashes to the phone, she suddenly feels weak and her muscle movement feels laboured. She misses a step and immediately [...]

2020-06-03T11:40:05-07:00May 14th, 2020|Blog|

Parkinson’s Disease: A Growing Threat Against Independent Living

There’s a growing threat amongst seniors wanting to live an independent lifestyle: and it’s commonly known as Parkinson’s Disease. One study1 indicates 930,000 Americans suffer this debilitating disease currently and that number will raise to an estimated 1.2 million by 2030.   What Is Parkinson’s Disease? According to the Mayo Clinic2, Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous system (or neurodegenerative) disease that affects a body’s ability for movement. It leads to a loss of dopamine in the brain. Symptoms typically start gradually, or in stages (for example, a barely noticed hand tremor to something more severe) and will worsen [...]

2020-04-09T12:04:02-07:00April 9th, 2020|Blog|

Primary Non-adherence (PNA) – Missing the First Step to Recovery

We briefly spoke about Primary non-adherence (PNA) as a subcategory from our previous blog “4 types of medication non-adherence”. For this blog, we will explore the formal definition of PNA, what factors contribute to PNA, and what we can do to reduce the likelihood of PNA from occurring. What is Primary non-adherence? Primary non-adherence is defined as a failure to start treatment because the prescribed medication is not picked up or received. In contrast, Secondary non-adherence (SNA) is defined as a failure to take medication as prescribed, a failure to refill the prescription or to discontinues the treatment. [...]

2020-03-26T11:03:54-07:00March 26th, 2020|Blog|

The 4 Types of Medication Non-Adherence

In our last blog about “What is medication adherence? Why does it matter?” we took a closer look at medication adherence and how the community understands the term. In this blog we take it one step further as we explore medication non-adherence and find that it’s more than forgetting to take medication. Medication non-adherence is broken down into two categories: Primary (PNA) and Secondary non-adherence (SNA). Primary non-adherence occurs when a new medication is prescribed for a patient but the patient fails to obtain the medication (or its appropriate alternative) within an acceptable period of time after it [...]

2020-03-12T11:44:15-07:00March 12th, 2020|Blog|

5 Tips to Prevent Against Coronavirus in Care Home Facilities (Updated)

  “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” -Benjamin Franklin, 1736 While it appears the context of the words above dealt more with fire prevention than medicine, the comment does hold its own when dealing with worldwide warnings and concern of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19 ) outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes it as a new strain of coronavirus that can infect (and/or transmit) between human and animal species. Common to other respiratory illnesses, if infected, symptoms include: Runny nose Sore throat Cough Fever More serious symptoms may lead to pneumonia and breathing difficulties. It [...]

2020-06-04T10:11:10-07:00February 25th, 2020|Blog|