The Effect of Shared Decision-Making by Mental Health Nurses on Medication Adherence in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorders: Provider-Patient Communication Pathway Model

Abstract

The involvement of patients with mental health issues in their own treatment decision-making has often been overlooked. This study aimed to investigate the impact of shared decision-making between mental health nurses and patients with alcohol use disorders (AUD) on medication adherence. The provider-patient communication pathway model was utilized to examine the ways in which therapeutic communication strategies employed by mental health nurses positively influence medication adherence. The study employed a percentile bootstrap method and pairwise comparison tests in structural equation modeling. The results revealed that shared decision-making between AUD patients and mental health nurses directly enhanced medication adherence, as well as indirectly influenced adherence through the mediating factors of therapeutic alliance and alcohol abstinence self-efficacy. These findings hold both theoretical and practical implications for involving patients with AUD in therapeutic decision-making within psychiatric and mental health nursing settings, as well as for improving medication adherence among this patient population.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.