Medication non-adherence is a global problem and has existed for centuries. Patients have paid a very high price for their behaviour of non-adherence in the form of impaired cost, prolonged diseases, a burden to family, or even by their lives. In the era of science and technology where there is a solution for every odd problem, the issue of medication non-adherence can also find a remedy. This paper tries to highlight the factors of non-adherence and looks for solutions through various forms of technology. The review of different published literature highlights the findings of researchers and tries to assimilate a solution for addressing the prolonged problem of medication non-adherence.

The aim of this study is to enhance medication adherence amidst COVID-19 with the help of active reminders. Effect of: patients’ perception of side effect, importance of physicians’ instructions, and their beliefs, on medication adherence were measured. Sample size was 583. The study was conducted in the state of Sikkim in India. Responses were analyzed and a structural equation model was framed to test the paths. It was found that reminders had a significant impact on patients’ perception about importance given to physician instruction ( ) and their beliefs ( ). These mediators helped to increase the adherence rate of patients. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1140/epjs/s11734-022-00532-7.

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The Indian mutual fund industry is playing a significant role in the development of capital market and in the growth of the Indian economy. It is considered to be a better opportunity where savings are collected from investors and diverted to the capital market to generate better returns for them with lower risk and volatility. Hence, it is of utmost significance to understand the mutual fund industry in India. As such, this chapter makes an attempt to review the various literatures available in regard to mutual funds to evaluate the performance of various mutual fund schemes and to study the investor's perception in selection of a mutual fund. The study shows that mutual funds have failed to offer advantages of diversification and professionalism to the investors and hence could not fulfil their scheme's objectives. It is also found that retail investors are still confused about the mutual funds as an investment avenue. In order to attain sustained profitable growth, the industry should focus on developing distribution networks, increasing retail participation and expanding the reach of mutual funds by conducting awareness programs and extending financial literacy.

Medication non-compliance is common among patients suffering from chronic disease. The research aims to find the effectiveness of food timing as a form of intervention to improve medication compliance. 509 patients were interviewed who were under the medication and had their treatment from Central Referral Hospital, Sikkim. The technique of probability estimates, risk difference, relative risk, and odds ratios were used to do the analysis and predictions of medication compliance when food timing was used as a form of reminder. Analysis of confidence interval at 95% ensured that the results obtained were due to the use of reminder and not by chance. The study reveals that with the help of food timing as a form of reminder, a patient has 50.2% lower odds of deferring from the scheduled time of medicine. There are 129.2% greater odds of completing the course of medication, 41.4% lower odds of missing the medication consciously, and there are 56.6% lower odds of missing the medication dose. The probability numbers indicate the effectiveness of usage of this form of reminder.

Investment in stock market is subjected to diverse risks. The same is made in expectation of return which is in excess of a risk-free rate. The actual return the investor receives from stock may vary from his expected return and risk is expressed in terms of variability of return. As such, it becomes essential to understand magnitude of the rate of returns and the degree of risk involved. One noteworthy measure of systematic risk associated with an investment is Beta. It refers to the volatility of a stock in comparison with rest of the market. The stability of beta is of great significance as it happens to be an important tool for investment decision. In these contexts, the study has explored the relationship between returns of securities and market returns and also the stability of beta for a variety of stocks that formed a part of BSE Sensex. The methodology adopted here is empirical in nature. The required information for undergoing the research has been accumulated from secondary sources. The sample size for this study consists of 30 corporate firms that are listed on BSE and included in Sensex. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression model are being used to study the relationship between returns of securities and market returns. Stability of beta is tested as well. Findings indicate that there seems to be positive association between returns of securities and market returns and betas are unstable overtime.

According to WHO, only 50% of patients adhere to chronic therapy. The problem of non-adherence has persisted over decades. Over 197 million Indian households have TV sets, and on average Indians spend 3 hours, 44 minutes watching television. A TV programme is used as intervention by patients to improve medication adherence rates. The objective of the research is to find the effect of TV programmes as a form of reminder in improving medication adherence. With the help of a structured questionnaire, the information about medication adherence behaviour was obtained from patients suffering from different types of diseases in the state of Sikkim, India. It has been found that when patients use TV programmes as a form of reminder, the odds of missing the medication consciously reduces by 45.9%. At a personal level, the probability that a person will not miss the time of medication is 42.3% higher compared to when it is not used, and if the total population is considered, 15.6% fewer people would not be missing the medication at all when the reminder is used.

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