Compliance: an interactionist approach.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Theory
• Health Care Compliance
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Compliance is crucial in healthcare but presents challenges for both providers and patients.
• Existing models like the Health Belief Model and Control Theory have limitations in explaining compliance dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an interactional framework for studying health care compliance.
• To introduce role theory as a valuable lens for understanding patient adherence.

Main Methods:

• Critique of current compliance models (Medical Model, Health Belief Model, Control Theory, Learning Theory).
• Development of an interactional framework based on role theory.
• Identification of four key components: self-concept, role enactment, complementary roles, and periodic evaluation.

Main Results:

• The proposed framework offers a unified perspective on compliance enactment.
• Identified components provide a structured way to analyze compliance interactions.
• Theoretical propositions derived can serve as hypotheses for future research.

Conclusions:

• An interactional approach utilizing role theory provides a robust framework for understanding health care compliance.
• This theory development approach can enhance nursing practice and patient outcomes.
• Further research is needed to test the derived theoretical propositions.