Executive Summary
The risk of medication overdose amongst blue collar workers in Dubai is high, due to low literacy rates. Classic Partnership tackled the problem on behalf of the Dubai Health Authority. Their solution didn’t only save, it also proved highly cost effective.
Challenge
Dubai hosts around 75,000 blue collar workers from other parts of the world, many of whom are illiterate, or unable to read English. This proves a problem for the pharmaceutical profession when detailing quantities and timings for vital medication to be taken by a worker.
Classic Partnership had partnered with a number of private health institutions in Dubai on similar issues facing other sectors within the health practice, and had devised simple yet highly effective solutions to overcome language barrier issues.
The government approached Classic Partnership because of its proven understanding of the healthcare sector.
Solution
Several key areas were taken into consideration when designing the stickers. A common size was first determined based on the range of medications available. Next came the dosage and consumption frequency which had to be carefully segmented to regular prescription requirements.
A durable yet cost-effective material was identified before shortlisting to the simplest form of design. Based on these needs, 3 variations of stickers were produced: Tablets, Capsules and Syrups. The duration for each course was also broken down into the 3 main meal periods as there’s generally a 5-hour interval between each which is what a doctor normally recommends. The designs were kept very basic with the allocation of space for manual markings. To ensure comprehension is at its fullest, pharmacists were directed to mark each section of the label in the presence of patients giving them clarity on how to understand the labels.
Quick and cost effective to both produce and use, they require the bare minimum of training for pharmacists and are comprehensively understood by blue collar workers; entirely eradicating the compound issues of confusion, guesswork and accidental overdosing.
Together these factors made the adoption of Prescription Stickers rapid and consistent across both audiences.
