Opening lines of communication between doctor and patient may make it easier to handle the changes to your life that come with IBD, such as remembering to take medicine, watching what you eat, or stopping smoking or drinking. Some changes that you have to make will not happen overnight. But you still may be a long way from ditching your ashtrays. It helps to realize that change is a process that can happen in stages. Genuine, determined action is then taken and, over time, attempts to maintain the new behavior occur.
Relapses are almost inevitable and become part of the process of working toward life-long change.
There are several ways that patients and health care professionals can develop better communication and ease the process of change. These may make it more likely that people with IBD will comply with treatment and lifestyle changes. Here we present two checklists to help both patients and healthcare professionals tackle the challenge of enhancing patient compliance. The American Heart Association Compliance Action Program . Zimmerman GL, et al.