Improving medication compliance of a patient with schizophrenia through collaborative behavioral therapy

Introduction by the column editors: Numerous factors influence a patient's decision to accept or reject prescribed medications, including the patient's personal values, environmental conditions, and the quality of the patient-physician relationship (1). Guidelines for evaluating and managing noncompliance with medication regimens by patients with schizophrenia take this multidimensional perspective into account, emphasizing functional assessment of nonadherence behaviors and individualized behavior-change strategies to secure and maintain the patient's cooperation (2). Moreover, a collaborative approach to planning pharmacotherapy is required to ensure medication compliance, with a particular emphasis on linking the positive effects of medications with the patient's personal goals and desires for better functioning and quality of life (3). The following case study illustrates the application of principles for enhancing medication compliance in the treatment of a woman diagnosed as having schizophrenia, paranoid type. Strategies presented by Dr. Heinssen include collaborative treatment contracts, analysis of adherence behaviors, and techniques for boosting medication cues and reinforcers in the patient's home. The therapy described was provided in the Life Skills partial hospitalization and psychiatric rehabilitation program, a multidisciplinary, multilevel outpatient service of the now-closed Chestnut Lodge Hospital in Rockville, Maryland. The program integrated medical, social-learning, and cognitive-behavioral interventions for psychosis within a psychiatric rehabilitation framework.