Outlining an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approach to treatment non-adherence

Non-adherence to effective treatments - inclusive of medications, physiotherapy, and psychological interventions – is a significant problem in healthcare delivery. The World Health Organisation reported an non-adherence rate of 30-50% in people taking medication for long-term conditions (Sabaté, 2003), which leads to significant adverse clinical, social and financial impacts (Khan & Socha-Dietrich , 2018). This problem is not restricted to medications. For example, uptake of pulmonary rehabilitation groups for COPD (Garrod, Marshall, Barley, & Jones, 2006) and psychological therapy groups for mental health conditions are often sub-optimal (Brebach, Sharpe, Costa, Rhodes, & Butow, 2016; Byrne et al., 2019; Michelson & Sclare, 2009). Despite extensive research on the causes of non-adherence (Kardas, Lewek, & Matyjaszczyk, 2013) and the evaluation of interventions (Conn, Ruppar, Enriquez, & Cooper, 2016), the challenge of non-adherence is still very much present