Researchers have been trying to tackle the problem of medication non-adherence for a while now, and lately, they have been approaching the issue with behavioral economics. Studies in which patients were entered into either a lottery contract or a deposit contract for meeting weight loss goals or to quit smoking showed that behavioral economics can be fairly effective in public health care.

The way it worked was this: people in the lottery group were eligible for a daily lottery prize with both small payouts and larger rewards if they met their goals. Those in the deposit group invested their own money that was then matched by researchers, which they would get back if they succeeded. The deposit contract proved to be more effective and for a certain subset of people, this type of motivation makes all the difference. But, never in a million years could it work for me. I am just not the kind of person who is interested in being paid for being good.

Although for me the money wouldn’t be a motivator, for some people it is. Just as some kids do really well being paid for getting good grades, and others still aren’t motivated by this monetary incentive. I can imagine that the kinds of people who would do well with those grade-boosters also like getting gold stars and prefer getting positive feedback from other people — not necessarily themselves. They may adhere better to their medication through this method.

The lottery group also brings up an interesting aspect of human nature and motivation. The lottery adds a more interesting component to one’s life. With the lottery, there is potential for a positive result (winning small and large rewards) that can come from adhering to one’s meds as opposed to the obvious and pretty dull result of simply staying healthy. The lack of this exciting upside can be really boring. And, having the chance to win something is really fun. Gambling and lotteries are addictive for a reason — sometimes you win and sometimes you lose — which is much more exciting than always winning. Having some fun added to your medication can make a big difference and distract you from whatever you needed it for in the first place, which is undoubtedly why many people responded really well to the lottery method.

Professionals believe that if these types of contracts were created for medication adherence, the problem could begin to be resolved. While behavioral economics isn’t the only way to address the colossal problem, it has potential to change the way some patients approach their health. Most effective methods are fairly intense. Applying behavioral economics to medication adherence would require effort but combined with more communication and instruction from their doctors it could be effective in creating change for a specific group that does well with this kind of motivator — because everyone really is different.