Adherence to anti-psychotic medications and health behavior theories

Abstract

Although most persons with serious mental illness benefit from anti-psychotic medications, many choose not to adhere to prescribed medication regimens. In this paper, we use health behavior (HB) theories to explain the phenomenon of noncompliance and pose corresponding interventions that might ameliorate the problem. Two factors from HB theories - value expectancies (perceptions of the cost and benefits of a disorder and its treatment) and social support (interactions with health care providers and family support) - were juxtaposed with the cognitive and social disabilities that result from psychosis and its treatment in the public mental health system. The combination of HB factors and disabilities was a useful heuristic for explaining noncompliance, as well as the positive impact of putative interventions that might improve adherence. Implications of this model for a HB paradigm that explains adherence to treatments in general are proffered.