and also in terms of the effect on recovery, and then reviews
the adherence model, which was an attempt to go beyond
the traditional model of doctor–patient communication. Next,
the chapter focuses on the problem of variability and
suggests that variability in health professionals’ behaviour is
not only related to levels of knowledge but also to the
processes involved in clinical decision making and the health
beliefs of the health professional. This suggests that many of
the health beliefs described in Chapter 2 are also relevant to
health professionals. Finally, the chapter examines doctor–
patient communication as an interaction and the role of
agreement and shared models.This chapter covers:
➧ What is compliance?
➧ The work of Ley
➧ How can compliance be improved?
➧ The role of knowledge in doctor–patient communication
➧ The problem of doctor variability
➧ Explaining variability – the role of clinical decision-making
➧ Explaining variability – the role of health beliefs
➧ Doctor–patient communication as an interaction76 HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY