HLT-360V QUESTION AND ANSWERS WEII ILLUSTRATED

Define patient compliance and explain its importance in your field Patient compliance can be defined as a patient’s willingness and ability to follow medical advice. Compliance is important to all fields of medicine as it is a direct reflection of the healthcare professional’s ability to communicate with the patient and to create some form of bond which will facilitate a bond and cooperation. The term compliance has largely been replaced by the term adherence which has coincided with a change of approach to patient care, an approach that is more patient-centered, focusing on the needs of patients rather than on the goals of the health professional. In this approach, patients are treated as partners, are fully informed about health-related matters, are more involved in treatment planning and decision making, and are encouraged to accept more responsibility for their health care. Identify the health care professionals' role in compliance and give examples of ways in which the health care professional may actually contribute to noncompliance. The ultimate aim of any treatment plan is to achieve certain desired outcomes in the patients concerned. Despite all the best intention and efforts on the part of the healthcare professionals, those outcomes might not be achievable if the patients are non-compliant. The healthcare professionals may contribute to noncompliance if they do not understand the cause of the problem. If the professionals do not educate the patient adequately and carefully about the treatment plans, the patients may refuse to have treatment, thus contributing to noncompliance. Patients suffering more fear and anguish are likely to be noncompliant and hence need more attention from the healthcare professionals. In order to achieve higher rates of compliance the healthcare workers need to communicate effectively with the patients to ensure they understand