Role of pharmacists in the application of the transtheoretical model approach to enhance medication adherence in chronic diseases

Abstract

Adherence to prescribed medications is one of the most important aspects contributing to successful treatment. Medication adherence through self-management of chronic diseases is thought to be necessary to achieve improvements in quality of life for patients. Many models and interventions have been tested to enhance self-management, but to date none have been convincingly successful. The challenges inherent to disease self-management are fundamentally socio-behavioural issues, and the use of a model such as the transtheoretical model (TTM) has potential to be of assistance. Described here is a brief summary of a systematic review that was conducted to assess the potential for the use of the TTM in improving disease self-management activities for patients with chronic diseases, particularly type 2 diabetic patients. Seven studies describing the effect of the TTM on different aspects of medication adherence were reviewed. All the studies reviewed suggest that a TTM approach can help patients with chronic diseases change their behaviour to incorporate more desirable characteristics that will help them manage chronic conditions. However, at present there are still not enough studies to definitively determine whether pharmacists could practically use the TTM to enhance medication adherence.