title: Redefining Medication Adherence in the Treatment of Schizophrenia: How Current Approaches to Adherence Lead to Misinformation and Threaten Therapeutic Relationships.
abstract: Medication adherence is as much of a problem today as it was 50 years ago. A major barrier to progress is that the definition emphasizes obedience to medication recommendations rather than shared outcome goals. As a result, schizophrenia patients are keenly aware of the social risks of disclosing nonadherence. Nondisclosure leads to misinformation, which in turn leads to serious errors in medication decisions. Another consequence is that adherence struggles may harm the therapeutic relationship. When nonadherence is inevitable, the strategy should shift to the use of harm reduction strategies that aim to preserve the therapeutic relationship while mitigating risks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, UIC Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. Electronic address: pweiden@uptownresearch.com.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Weiden
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D055118:Medication Adherence / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents
keywords: Communication; Harm reduction; Outcome; Patient acceptance of health care; Physician-patient relations; Relapse; Schizophrenia