title: Overcoming the obstacles--the outsider's view.
abstract: The cost to patients, their relatives, the medical establishment and the economies of individual countries is such that compliance with, or adherence to, prescribed therapy is a major issue. There are relatively simple and systematic measures by which medical specialists can increase patient compliance and so save costs, time and lives. From a psychological perspective, the earlier these measures are instigated, for example before patients are discharged from hospital after an acute coronary syndrome, the greater is the likelihood of patient adherence to treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furnham
mesh_terms: D004358:Drug Therapy; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic