Your medicines. Your voice. Your plan.

Thank you for your interest in submitting a patient story to help us understand your experiences- good or bad- with taking your medicines.

A poster with the tag line 'your medicines, your voice, your plan' and the questions ' do you struggle to take your medicines? Do you feel that some of you medicines aren't right for you?
Image with wording ' your GP practice took part in a research study called IMAB-Qi. Hearing your stories will get the message to the NHS that change is needed to better support people who are prescribed medicines

IMAB-Qi stands for Identification of Medication Adherence Barriers Questionnaire intervention. This work will explore how people can work with their healthcare professionals to overcome challenges they have to taking their medicines as prescribed. 

We have government funding to test an approach called IMAB-Qi to help practitioners work with patients to support them to take their medicines as prescribed.

We want to raise awareness that taking medicine as prescribed is essential but so is the right fit. If a person finds it hard or doesn’t want to take their medicines as prescribed, they must be supported to work with their healthcare team to agree a solution that is right for them.

To be able to make a positive change we need to get this message to the NHS. The patient voice is really powerful in making this happen.

 If you think this sounds like you and you would like to share your story, please use the box below: 

Karen’s story:

I have recently had issues with trying to find a blood pressure medication that doesn’t have side effects. On top of the shock of finding I need BP medication this has been very hard to deal with. The first drug gave me palpitations, the second one gave me a really bad cough, which, 3 months after changing to a third drug that seems to be OK, is only just properly going. After each drug change I have had to have blood tests for kidney function. I think this would have been hard for some people. 
These problems meant I had to make a lot of contact with my surgery which is quite difficult. At no point was I tempted to just stop taking the medication because the BP reading that led to this was frighteningly high. However I know people who would have done.

Raising awarness, Digital Presence, Public outreach, learning and training, academic impact. we will only use selected parts of your story, focusing on the most important points. You do not have to provide your name or any personal details, and you can choose to remain anonymous. If you want to have the opportunity to be contacted in the future, there is a space at the end of the form to give your contact details.