This article describes advances in the behavioral self-management of chronic disease from the perspective of a 25-year trajectory of National Institute of Health-funded research in arthritis and cardiopulmonary diseases that has sought to develop a transdisciplinary understanding of how applied behavioral science can be used to improve health…

At the examination of a patient, a doctor evaluates clinical picture of the disease that manifests itself by a great number of various general and local symptoms caused by an etiological factor and pathogenesis changes of the different organs and systems of the organism. A purpose of the surgical patient examination is making of early, correct and…

Patient's nonadherence to treatment is one of the most serious issues for modern medicine. WHO experts in the guideline [6] thoroughly analyze the reasons for poor adherence to long-term therapy and outline a wide range of factors influencing adherence to long-term therapy. At that it is emphasized that none of those factors is decisive. It…

A study assessed the usefulness of unannounced standardized patients to assess the skills of 284 physicians enrolled in a continuing medical education program in control of sexually transmitted diseases and human immunodeficiency virus. Significant discrepancies were found between physician-reported performance and actual performance, as found in…

A diagnostic evaluation for a person with suspected Alzheimer's disease is usually initiated by family members whose concerns go beyond strictly medical issues. To determine precisely what questions families want answered, a 15-point questionnaire was developed at a multi-disciplinary geriatric assessment clinic. Caregivers were asked to rate each…

The home is clearly the major setting in which care is provided to individuals suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The Caring Home Program was a multi-disciplinary program designed to complement existing efforts to assist caregivers (N=12) with the in-home care of Alzheimer's disease patients. The program components consisted of an assessment of…

Several demographic and psychosocial variables affect assessment and treatment of chronic pain patients. The variables include demographic characteristics, life styles, family constellations, job conditions, financial status, support networks, and leisure activities. In recent years clinics and programs have emerged in a variety of configurations.…

All chronic illnesses represent assaults on multiple areas of functioning, not just the body. To examine the association between painful chronic illnesses and depression from a cognitive-behavioral perspective, 100 patients of the Pain Management Program at the West Haven, Connecticut Veterans Administration Hospital (78% males) completed a…

This paper describes an exhibit, "Layered Worlds: The Look of Alzheimer's," which uses photography as the medium to interpret Alzheimer's disease visually. The goal was not to photograph the victims of the disease, but to interpret the experience of Alzheimer's for the patient, family members, and caregivers. The metaphor of layers was…

Previous research has shown that expert physicians' diagnostic performance improves when contextual information about a patient is available, while the performance of novices is not influenced by this source of information. These results are explained by supposing that experts' knowledge is organized in illness-scripts. This study examined this…

Although a connection between physical health and emotional well-being has long been recognized, health caregivers have only recently begun to focus on the influence of illness or disability on attitudes and behaviors. Groups have been organized for therapeutic, supportive, or orientational purposes with general medical-surgical patients. Group…

The course of psychosocial adjustment to cancer was examined in 105 adults with cancer of the lung, breast and skin. Half of the patients received a program of systematic psychosocial rehabilitation plus evaluation, and the other half received only an evaluation, consisting of a series of psychometric instruments and a problem-oriented structured…

Medication noncompliance is seen as an obstacle to successful clinical outcomes of many diseases. An exercise for preclinical medical students at Stanford University is described. Objectives include sensitizing students to the consequences of medication noncompliance, illustrating problems, and evaluating a number of compliance-related issues.…

Proposals have been developed to clarify physician responsibility in withholding treatment to terminally ill patients. These proposals seek to provide a legal shield against malpractice proceedings and to reduce confusion over how to resolve high medical costs through standardizing procedures for withholding treatment. When first published,…

Although illness is often linked to low morale among the elderly, most persons cope with and adjust to illness. A hypothesized model of favorable family response to illness suggests the importance of resources as mediators to avoid crisis. To test this model, 53 older patients with lung disease and their spouses were interviewed about individual…