The health belief model applied to understanding diabetes regimen compliance. Diabetes Educ

Inadequate adherence to prescribed treatment plans is perhaps the most serious obstacle to achieving success-ful therapeutic outcomes, and non-compliance by diabetic patients is no exception. This is partly based on pa-tients ’ realization that compliance does not necessarily result in lack of illness. A psychosocial framework for under-standing patient compliance is the Health Belief Model, which is based upon the value an individual places on the identified goal and the likelihood that compliance will achieve that goal. This Model has been useful to explain noncompliance, to make an "educa-tional diagnosis, " and for designing compliance-enhancing interventions. Despite continuing advances in treatment approaches and technolo-gies, effective control of diabetes is pri-marily dependent upon patient adher-ence to therapeutic recommenda-tions. Typically, the diabetic regimen is &dquo;complex, of life-long duration, and requires many behavior changes on the part of the patient,&dquo;1 often involv-ing &dquo;daily injections, urine testing, die-tary modifications, safety measures, and exercise routines, &dquo;2 with each ac-tivity requiring the performance of many specific behaviors. It is therefore not surprising that studies of diabetic patients reveal disturbingly-low level