Enhancing patient adherence through integrated educational programs based on psychological techniques and practices

Different educational programs can be utilised in order to enhance patient adherence to pharmacological and non-pharmacological prescriptions. It is advisable to adopt a multidisciplinary approach; the following health practitioners can be included in the team: nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, psychologists, health educators and physicians. In this chapter, researches about educational programs, which aim to improve adherence, centred on psychological techniques and practices will be reviewed, including cognitive behavioural techniques and other psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches. The interest on this topic is based on the idea that a range of interplaying factors facilitates the process of developing self-management strategies. Among these, disease awareness, self- efficacy, self-care and other metacognition factors can be generally improved by using appropriate psychological techniques. The focus of this review will be on studies, which aim to enhance adherence in chronic illness, particularly, heart failure and cardiac disease. The aim of this chapter is to take into consideration studies on educational programs enhancing patient adherence in order to gain insight on the underlying psychological mechanisms that can regulate them.