In fact, the key factor for successful treatment is education. The patient and family must understand both the need for treatment and the method for administering it properly. Barriers to complying with recommended treatments must also be identified. In adolescents, the use of contracts or written agreements may bolster compliance. Weinstein 12 has published a representative case of a child with asthma in which contracts were part of a successful intervention program.
Patients also benefit from written instructions.
Increasingly, the availability of written patient medication information is being viewed as an important factor in enhancing compliance. In the treatment of acute illness, duration of therapy plays a large role in determining compliance. In cases of infectious diseases, the use of antibiotics has been found to decline rapidly after symptomatic improvement is seen. It has been well established that short-course therapy leads to improved compliance. A single dose therapy which can be administered by a health care provider during a clinic or emergency room visit may be viewed as the optimal method to ensure drug delivery.