Does a financial incentive inspire people to take their medications regularly? I just read about a study in Philadelphia where people were being paid a certain amount in order to take their medications regularly. Apparently non compliance is a big problem and accounts for more than $100 billion in health costs annually because those patients often get sicker. The study showed that for many the financial incentive worked however it did not lead to continued compliance after the program was stopped.
What we are really talking about here is as to what gets people to change their behavior. Similar incentive programs have been started to get students to do homework and to get people to loose and keep off weight. As far as I know all have had short lived success and not achieved the goal of establishing long term success.
As we all know change is difficult. The medication study is externally driven -the incentive is the insurance companies to save money on health care. What is missing is how to get people to want to care of themselves.
I would like to see a strong emphasis on finding ways to expect people to be responsible for their well being. I do not believe that financial incentives are the answer. I do believe that by building a strong foundation people are more apt to take good care of themselves.
