title: What's in a name? Concordance is better than adherence for promoting partnership and self-management of chronic disease.
abstract: The choice of language health professionals use to discuss self-management of chronic disease is important and influences patients' self-management. The words compliance, adherence and concordance are used to discuss patients' agreement with prescribed treatment plans, but have different tone and meanings. Models of care linked to the words compliance and adherence are underpinned by interactions between patients and healthcare providers that merely reinforce instructions about treatments. The 'patient-professional partnership' is introduced as a model by Bodenheimer et al. (2002, p. 2469) whereby true partnership working should be an opportunity to pool the expertise of both parties to arrive at mutually agreed goals in concordance. The impact these words might have on partnership working is important in defining the patient-health professional relationship, and for the patients' healthcare outcomes and the potential effect on healthcare utilisation.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Nursing School, M03 88, Mallett Street, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Randall
authors.affiliation: Charles Perkins Centre, Sydney Nursing School, Level 2, Building D17, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Lis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neubeck
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012648:Self Care; D009626:Terminology as Topic