Patient Treatment Adherence: Concepts, Interventions, and Measurement

This new book summarizes the adherence literature for a number of specific health behaviors and populations. It provides a comprehensive source on the conceptualization, interventions, and measurement of treatment adherence and a synthesis of the research across demographic and chronic diseases. The text presents problems associated with treatment adherence; theoretical models that have commonly been used to understand, predict, and/or improve adherence; adherence with specific behaviors including exercise, diet, rehabilitation, medication, and psychological therapies; and strategies in enhancing adherence. Because chronic diseases involve similar behaviors, the handbook is organized by specific behaviors and special populations, and not by disease. Every chapter is sub-organized by specific diseases to ensure easy access for the readers and features a discussion of adherence across demographic and chronic conditions, a review of previous interventions directed at the particular behavior or population, questions and scoring algorithms for widely used measures of treatment adherence, a discussion of the clinical research, and where appropriate, policy implications. Patient Treatment Adherence addresses: practical recommendations to improve adherence; a definition of treatment adherence using multiple models; the impact of non-adherence including costs and health-related quality of life; methodological issues such as assessing cost-effectiveness; and the use of technological advances to improve adherence. Intended for health service researchers and managers, health, clinical, social, and cognitive psychologists, as well as primary care physicians, pharmacists, and policy-makers, this text is also an excellent resource for graduate courses on health psychology and public health.

Table of Contents:

Contents: Preface. Introductory Remarks. Part I: What Is Treatment Adherence?H.B. Bosworth, Introduction. H.B. Bosworth, C.I. Voils, Theoretical Models to Understand Treatment Adherence. Part II: Factors Influencing Treatment Adherence.K.L. Dominick, M. Morey, Physical Function/Exercise and Adherence. W.S. Yancy, J. Boan, Adherence to Diet Recommendations. L.A. Bastain, S.L. Molner, L.J. Fish, C.M. McBride, Smoking Cessation and Adherence. H.B. Bosworth, Medication Treatment Adherence. S. Zinn, Patient Adherence in Rehabilitation. Part III: Treatment Adherence in Special Populations.J. Cheng, E.C. Walter, Nonadherence in Pediatrics. J. Gonzalez, J.W. Williams, Jr., The Effects of Clinical Depression and Depressive Symptoms on Treatment Adherence. P.S. Calhoun, M. Butterfield, Treatment Adherence Among Individuals With Severe Mental Illness. S.C. Alexander, B. Sleath, C.E. Golin, C.T. Kalinowski, Provider-Patient Communication and Treatment Adherence. M. Weinberger, T. Salz, Physician Adherence to Clinical- Practice Guidelines. Part IV: Methodological Issues and Treatment Adherence.A. Ammerman, M. Tajik, Treatment Adherence at the Community Level: Moving Toward Mutuality and Participatory Action. C. Van Houtven, M. Weinberger, T. Carey, Implications of Nonadherence for Economic Evaluation and Health Policy. K. Anstrom, A. Allen, K. Weinfurt, Estimating Causal Effects in Randomized Studies With Imperfect Adherence: Conceptual and Statistical Foundations. D.B. Matchar, M.B. Patwardhan, G.P. Samsa, Improving Adherence With Clinical Guidelines. C. Skinner, S. Korbin, M. Campbell, L. Sutherland, New Technologies and Their Influence on Existing Interventions. H.B. Bosworth, M. Weinberger, E.Z. Oddone, Conclusion.

"...problematic adherence to treatment is an important public health problem...there is a need to synthesize recent work, especially across a wide range of issues and populations....The book would make an excellent text or reference for graduate courses in health psychology....I would recommend this book to colleagues, especially health psychologists and colleagues in medicine and nursing."
—Dennis Drotar, Ph.D.
Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospitals