A Conceptual Protocol for a Single-Session Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for Medication Adherence Intervention Delivered by General Providers

Abstract

New approaches to medication adherence interventions are needed. This manuscript presents a highly structured protocol of a single-session solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) for medication adherence intervention (SFBT-MAI) delivered by general providers. It conceptually integrates the procedure of tailored interventions, techniques of SFBT, and the four steps of Qitang Lin’ conceptualization of single-session SFBT. With specific techniques and examples to reduce operational difficulties, the SFBT-MAI includes two parts. The first part focuses on selecting non-adherent patients and clarifying their barriers to medication adherence. The second part focuses on individualized interventions with four steps: closing, hoping, empowering, and changing and acting. It is hoped that this work will improve the effectiveness of medication adherence interventions for patients with coronary heart disease and to promote the use of brief psychological interventions in clinical practice.

Keywords:

• medication adherence
• tailored intervention
• psychological intervention
• solution-focused brief therapy
• general provider
• coronary heart disease

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ju Liu for her critical review and valuable contributions to the manuscript.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Planning Program [202090031040] and the Undergraduates Scientific Research and Cultivation Project of the Army Medical University [2020XBK43].