LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) – Cassandra Ford, a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with The Beverly Clinic in Longview, appeared on East Texas Live Tuesday to talk about medication adherence.

“Chronic disease continues to increase in the world today, yet medication adherence has decreased which results in poor clinical outcome,” Ford said. “According to the American Medical Association, some common side effects are fear of medication use, or the lack of knowledge knowing how to use medications such as an injectable or inhalers. Cost of medication, may be due to fixed income or lack of resources. Some patients may say, ‘I’m not experiencing any symptoms, so why should I take the medication?’ And lastly, lack of knowledge about the medication or the disease process.”

The Beverly Clinic works to make sure patients understand the importance of medication, risks of deviating from medication, knowledge about disease and how to respond to undesirable side effects. They also offer follow-up visits to monitor outcomes and decrease complications due to medication.

To learn more, visit their website.