The MedSupport Multilevel Intervention to Enhance Support for Pediatric Medication Adherence: Development and Feasibility Testing

INTRODUCTION: We developed MedSupport, a multilevel medication adherence intervention designed to address root barriers to medication adherence. This study sought to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the MedSupport intervention strategies to support a future full-scale randomized controlled trial. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND MEASURES: We recruited caregivers of pediatric patients (ages 1-18) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving oral home-based chemotherapy at Roswell Park during April and May 2023. Multidisciplinary healthcare providers who were on the care teams of enrolled patients were invited to participate. Feasibility and acceptability among caregivers and healthcare providers were assessed using standardized self-report measures and objective measures of intervention fidelity. RESULTS: We implemented a pilot study of the MedSupport intervention at Roswell Park, and successfully implemented all study procedures. Feasibility was demonstrated through: (i) Demand: When approached for participation, 100% of eligible caregivers (N = 6) and healthcare providers (N = 8) agreed to participate. (ii) Practicality: 100% of families completed the barriers screening questionnaire on the first prompt. All families endorsed adherence barriers (range: 3-14). (iii) Acceptability: Caregivers rated the intervention as acceptable, appropriate, and feasible (mean: 4.71-5.0). Healthcare providers rated the intervention as acceptable, appropriate, and feasible (mean: 4.41-4.47). Objective data on intervention fidelity were feasible to capture and demonstrated both caregiver and healthcare provider engagement with the intervention. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: MedSupport is an innovative, low-cost, and scalable intervention that warrants additional examination to understand efficacy in enhancing home-based medication adherence in pediatric ALL.