Psychosocial Interventions to Enhance Treatment Adherence to Lifestyle Changes in Cardiovascular Disease: A Review of the Literature 2011-2021

Abstract

Patients with cardiovascular diseases face difficulty to adhere to non-pharmaceutical treatment recommendations and consequently face an increased recurrence rate, re-hospitalizations and poor quality of life. Our review of the literature over the past decade aims to be a useful tool to the enlightening of health care providers and health educators about the interventions that enhance treatment adherence to lifestyle modification. PubMed, PsycLIT, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CINAhl, PSYinfo, Web of Science, and Central databases were searched to identify articles published within the decade 2011-2021 and 42 studies met the criteria for inclusion. Our study revealed many different approaches to inconsistency in life style prescriptions focusing mainly on psychological and social factors. Interventions like increasing of knowledge, joining cardiac rehabilitation programs, development of a therapeutic alliance, behavioral techniques that reinforce self-efficacy and motivation, use of technology as reminder and creating a support network are not only effective but also low-cost programs that will play a decisive role in treatment effectiveness. Improving treatment adherence to lifestyle recommendations requires a multidimensial approach by an interdisciplinary team of health professionals. Investing in interventions that improve attitudes, beliefs, readiness and self-care, can prove to be very rewarding for patients, health and economics. The present literature review will assist health professionals and educators create experiential educational and behavioral programs that promote the adoption of healthy behavior and help maintain adherence over time. Future research is required for identifying the most effective interventions based on different lifestyles practices and cultural factors.