That makes it hard for patients to remember, or believe, how important such drugs are. Grace Macalino, a professor of community health at Brown University, who is studying ways to encourage people with HIV to stick to their complicated medication regimens, says that many people don t really believe the medications work. Their doctors may not have explained the drugs importance, or the patient may simply distrust the doctor. Chances are, the doctor never even asked the patient whether he or she was willing to take pills. How a physician approaches a patient about this is oftentimes overlooked, Macalino says.
Providers do have an impact.
If a doctor explains the medication and is open and responsive to patients questions and concerns, the patient is more likely to follow the prescription. A lot of times when people are first told they re sick, there s a shutdown, and that s all they re processing, Macalino says. Sometimes it works better to schedule a separate appointment to discuss medication, after the patient has adjusted to an idea of having a chronic illness. Even those who, intellectually, accept the medication s value may have a hard time incorporating this little task into their daily lives. Some people use the excuse they forgot, Andrade says.