Effectiveness of specific intervention on treatment adherence of persons with mental illness: A pilot study

CONTEXT: Treatment nonadherence is one of the major obstacles in recovery even with the availability of a broad range of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments for persons with mental illnesses. AIMS: The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions in improvement of treatment adherence of persons with mental illnesses. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study was conducted at a tertiary mental health care setting in North-east India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Total 30 numbers of patients were selected randomly for the study. Treatment adherence was assessed using the Medication Adherence Rating Scale and a structured Treatment Adherence Checklist. Data were collected before and 1-month after the specific interventions to the patients and their family members. RESULTS: Result showed a significant improvement in the treatment adherence as verbalized by the patient (paired t = 3.973, P = 0.00, df = 29) as well as reported by the family members (paired t = 2.94, P = 0.00, df = 29) following the specific intervention. CONCLUSION: The study result suggested that specific intervention may be used for a better outcome of treatment for mental illnesses. The findings might be generalized following implementation of the intervention to a larger sample.