Medication adherence in urban men's shelters: An ethnographic study

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to investigate homeless men's experiences of taking medications while living in a homeless shelter and the factors that affect medication adherence; and to describe medication adherence, as it pertains to homeless men residing in a shelter, from the perspective of the shelter staff. This is a manuscript-based thesis. The first manuscript provides a description of a proposed ecological model, based on clinical experience of the author and from the literature. The second paper is a summary of the findings of the qualitative research on medication adherence and homeless men's shelters. The third manuscript, directed at pharmacists, offers recommendations and strategies based on results of the qualitative study, to improve medication adherence. This thesis suggests that when health professionals view adherence to medications as an individual, cognitive choice, it does not take into account the challenges imposed by a homeless individual's environmental context.