Jazmine Hurley, University of Utah
The purpose of this study is to examine patient adherence to provider recommendations and prescription drugs among uninsured free clinic patients. Patient adherence to provider recommendations and prescription drugs are very important to manage chronic illnesses, but uninsured free clinic patients tend to have low levels of health literacy and may have a problem of not adhering to direction. Data is collected using a self-administered paper survey at the Maliheh Free Clinic, Salt Lake City in the fall of 2017. Patients of the clinic who are aged 18 or older and speak English or Spanish are eligible to participate in the survey. As October 11, 2017, 369 patients participated in the survey. Approximately half of the participants reported that they were able to adhere to doctor instruction most, or all of the time. For specific recommendations, the adherence rates were 17% for exercising regularly, 41% for taking prescribed medication, and 17% for a low fat or weight loss diet. Less than half of the participants (43.8%) reported they had never forgotten to take medicine. While half of the patients were able to adhere to provide, recommendations the other half were unfortunately unable to follow recommended instruction. The low adherence rates suggest potential preventable negative effects on patient health in the uninsured and health illiterate community. Free clinics benefit the health of the uninsured greatly, but if patient adherence rates were able to rise, chronic health conditions of this population would be much improved.