Script Your Future 2024

Authors

Alexander Nihart
Nicholas Olivas
Kaitlyn Zbylut
Amy Bachyrycz
Melissa Martinez

Files

Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

7-12-2024

Abstract

Script Your Future (SYF) is an annual campaign run by the National Consumers League (NCL) which promotes health outreach by health professions students. A number of focus areas are established each year, with the foundation being the promotion of medication adherence. The UNM College of Pharmacy student leaders, with assistance from the IPE office, called for students from all programs on the Health Science Center (HSC) campus to come together as a part of SYF.

This is extremely important because, as the NCL states, medication adherence is a cornerstone of effective disease treatment, with non-adherence being the cause of an estimated 25% of hospitalizations and 3 out of 4 Americans not taking their medications as directed. The core leaders team for SYF reached out to all UNM HSC students for their participation in this initiative. The SYF team included representation from many health professional programs on campus, such as College of Pharmacy, School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Physician Assistant Program, Physical Therapy Program, Occupational Therapy Program, and College of Population Health.

Two main events were conducted this year, with each being multidisciplinary and advertised to the entire HSC student body. The first event took place at the Los Ranchos Growers Market, in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico where the team provided education for both childhood and adult vaccines to the general public and local communities, in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Health. The second event was at the Broadmoor Senior Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico where we performed medication histories & assessments, cognitive screenings, and fall risk screenings.

The SYF goals for this year included vaccine confidence and medication adherence directives. Additional goals included prescription and over-the-counter medication safety. Taking medications as prescribed and by the patient’s provider is essential to improve health outcomes and appropriately manage disease states for our patients. During the SYF communication, we also used our outreach platform to encourage people to remember to use reputable online vendors and only take medications that have been prescribed or recommended to them by their provider.

Script your Future sets a solid framework for all of the UNM HSC students to take our existing skills, learned knowledge, communication techniques, and ongoing outreach efforts to expand levels of interprofessional education and collaboration. These events accomplish better integration for our patients, application for our students, improve patient outcomes, and enhance comprehensive patient care.

Recommended Citation

Nihart, Alexander; Nicholas Olivas; Kaitlyn Zbylut; Amy Bachyrycz; and Melissa Martinez. "Script Your Future 2024." (2024). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc_ipe_posters/27

Comments

Presented at IPE Day 2024