Practical Ways to Improve Patient Adherence

Physicians prescribe medications, but patients do not always use them. While it would be easy for us to blame patients for treatment failures, we can do more to motivate them to use their medications as we have recommended. Perhaps we can provide better care to our patients simply by encouraging them to use the medications we already have than we can by developing new ones. We may even be able to clear them of their skin disease by administering therapies they have already tried-but did not use consistently or correctly-without needing to resort to riskier or more expensive therapies. This is not a theoretical tome; it is an easy-to-read, entertaining look at the many steps we can use to encourage patients to use their medications. Practical Ways to Improve Patient Adherence is an excellent resource for physicians and allied health professionals whose patients exhibit poor adherence. Daniel J. Lewis and experienced adherence researcher Steven R. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D. examine the problem of poor adherence in dermatology and offer concrete techniques to improve adherence. The book offers novel, potent ways to get patients to use their medications and improve treatment outcomes-tools healthcare providers can use day in and day out. A medical education is not complete without a thorough understanding of the hurdles that contribute to poor adherence and what we as health professionals can and should do about it.