Memory and Adherence to Treatment

Question 1

Components/types of memory

Answer 1

Sensory
Working
Permanent

Question 2

Sensory memories

Answer 2

Attention from environmental stimuli

Question 3

Working memory

Answer 3

Short term
Limited capacity, around 7+/- 2
Mainly acoustic
Recency effect

Question 4

Permanent memory

Answer 4

Long term
Large capacity
Mainly semantic, flexible
Primacy effect

Question 5

How to aid storage/encoding

Answer 5

Organisation - chunking, explicit categorisation
Less is more 
Stressing importance 
Precise information 
Exploit primacy and recency effects 
Associate with visual imagery

Question 6

How to aid retrieval of info

Answer 6

Cueing - eg. pair tablets with meals
External aids
Reinstatement of context (state dependent learning) - environment, mood, physiology

Question 7

What is adherence

Answer 7

Degree to which the person’s behaviour corresponds with the agreed recommendations from a health care provider

Question 8

Example of rates of non-adherence

Answer 8

Acute - 67%

Chronic - 50%

Question 9

Influences on adherence

Answer 9

Characteristics of treatment - convenience, cost, side effects
Antipsychotic meds - typical (tardive dyskinesia); atypical (reduction)
Patient factors - knowledge, depression, life stage
Parental support
Unintentional non-adherence - forgetting, running out, carelessness

Question 10

Improving patient adherence

Answer 10

Consider non-adherence: ask for compliance, environment to discuss non-adherence
Improve communication: consider patient’s beliefs, health education to improve understanding, improve recall of advice and treatment