Critical design: The importance of packaging in patient adherence

Pharmaceutical packaging plays an important role in increasing patient adherence, with Essentra’s Design Hub manufacturers can identify areas to add adherence increasing features. 

It may seem that packaging design is only important for FMCG brands that need to fight for shelf space and customer attention, but, in fact, it is something that must be carefully considered in many industries.

In the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, for example, packaging design is crucial. Ultimately, customers are patients who need medicines to improve their lives in some way and, therefore, packaging must be convenient to use, simple to open and easily distinguishable to ensure it is used appropriately.

Packaging plays an important role in increasing patient adherence: the extent to which a person’s behaviour — for example taking medication, following a diet, or executing lifestyle changes — corresponds with agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider.

Indeed, patient adherence is currently one of the biggest challenges that the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries are facing. In fact, research shows that patients not taking their medicines properly is costing the NHS £500 million a year.

Essentra’s recently opened ‘Design Hub’ — a facility that combines the creativity of brand designers with the technical expertise of packaging manufacturing teams — allows the research and creation of patient adherence-enhancing packaging. By recognising that packaging plays multiple roles in a product’s journey — from containment, protection and communication, to security and transportation — the Design Hub has started to identify areas where manufacturers can add patient adherence-increasing features.

Containment and accessibility

On a basic level, packaging is a means of containing and delivering a product to a user. Successful packaging should allow the intended user to easily open, access and re-pack the medicines, ensuring that the product and related information stay together. This gives the patient confidence as they have all the materials required to support proper usage, even over long periods of time.

Communication and information

Packaging has a critical role to play in communicating all the information needed for patients to take their medicines correctly. To ensure that this data is as clear as possible, pharmaceuticals need to provide detailed literature that caters to multiple audiences such as availability in multiple languages. Text should be printed in an easy-to-read font face and size, and colours can be used if appropriate.

To aid understanding and reassure patients, information should be delivered in an easily-digestible format, using features such as graphs or infographics. Images are particularly important for those who are illiterate; according to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, in 2013 the global illiteracy rate was 15.9%, approximately one in six people. In addition, braille can be used to support patients that are partially or fully blind to take medications in line with guidance.

If there is not sufficient space on the carton or bottle to supply the volume of information required, manufacturers can employ features such as booklet labels or booklet leaflets, allowing customers to easily navigate supplementary material.

Protection and transportation

In addition, packaging plays a key role in protection and transportation, ensuring that medicines can be efficiently and safely delivered from the manufacturer through the supply chain. Simple factors, such as shape and structure, can help immensely when packing large quantities of product to be shipped.

On a more sophisticated level, intricate structural elements can be installed. For fragile medical instruments such as vials, packaging may need to include ‘crumple zones’ that are shaped to the contents’ form, ensuring that they are protected when in transit.

Pharmaceutical companies must also recognize that protection extends to the full journey of the medicine. Even when the drugs have been successfully delivered to the patient, consumers must be able to store the product safely when at home. For example, manufacturers can use thermochromic inks that are activated by high or low temperatures to help patients monitor their storage conditions.

Summary

Every one of these basic elements has the ability to add value and increase patient adherence by using intelligent, targeted design practices. Though these design tools may not completely solve the issue of patient nonadherence, employing these practices should not be underestimated. Secondary packaging components are materials that are already delivered and amending these have been proven to make a noticeable difference in adherence.

Developing a successful product should not end with the product itself — manufacturers must always think of the complete offering, including its packaging, delivery and after care, to provide their consumers with a holistic solution.