Nudging Medicine Users to Handle Unused Medicines Correctly (a Study of the Czech Republic and the Slovak republic)

Abstract

This paper on the case of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic examines the effect of information nudging on changing the behavior of medicine users with unused medicines. We introduce a new concept of nudge into the theory as an explanatory tool used in the form of subsumption. In our explanatory model, explanans represents the initial conditions of research (C). The explanatory theory of ET is nudge theory. Explanandum E is the explained phenomena. The initial conditions consist of two classes of conditions - namely, C0 and C1. The C0 conditions are those conditions that characterize the state where drug users (respondents) act without the information provided by us. C1 conditions are those states where we provide boring information to the medicine users in the form of a leaflet on how to dispose of unused medicines. We examine how the conditions change the behavior of users (respondents) based on the change in the behavior of users (respondents). Empirical analysis shows that nudging in the form of additional information has a positive effect on behavior. Respondents who received additional information in the information campaign about the proper handling of medicines showed a 23.4% increase in the declared return of unused medicines (condition Cl) compared to condition C0 when no nudging was done. We find that respondents who check the expiry date are more likely to hand in medicines at the pharmacy. The more information people have about how to manage unused and expired medicines, the more medicines are returned to the pharmacy. Similarly, people who have enough information return unused and expired medicines to the pharmacy. Therefore, nudging in the form of additional information can be seen as an appropriate public policy tool to increase the effective management of unused medicines.