Improve Medication Adherence Among Stroke Survivors in Rural Kentucky

Intervention to Improve Medication Adherence Among Stroke Survivors in Rural Kentucky

To test the feasibility and promise of a combined intervention provided by community health worker (CHW) in collaboration with pharmacy technician and pharmacist to improve hypertension and long-term stroke outcomes by identifying and reducing barriers to medication adherence among ischemic stroke survivors. This collaborative intervention involves a self-management program including an educational session on practical strategies to improve hypertension control (i.e., appropriately taking medications, necessity of treatment, and consequences of not taking medicine, etc.), complemented by individually-tailored sessions to identify and address barriers to medication adherence.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult patients with history of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the past 2 years
• residing in a rural county in Kentucky

Exclusion Criteria:

• significant aphasia
• cognitive impairment
• a terminal illness
• other neurologic deficits that would impede from providing informed consent or meaningfully participate in the one-to-one sessions.
• a prior aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and or aneurysm, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, vasculitis, blood clotting disorder due to genetic causes
• if the patient does not take any secondary preventative medications