Therapeutic adherence and chronic diseases. A clinical problem

Abstract

Accepting to suffer from a chronic disease and learning to live with this disease can be a slow process for the patient and their family. Children and adolescents with a chronic disease face a challenge that requires facing the responsibility and demands of the need for long-term daily treatment that often requires adapting their activities and their lives to comply with it. The goal of treatment in chronic diseases is to minimize symptoms, achieve control, or modify the natural history to achieve an adequate quality of life. Adherence means the acceptance of an active role in one’s own health care but that must include collaboration between the patient, his family and the health team. This collaboration should include trust, terms such as negotiation, joint decision-making, and communication to determine the appropriate treatment for the disease. Adherence to treatment is a problem and constitutes a challenge and concern for physicians who treat patients with chronic diseases because lack of adherence leads to a worsening of the disease, an increase in the number of hospitalizations, high costs for the patient, the family and the health system.