Behavioral Therapy An Effective Treatment For The...

Introduction Antipsychotic medications have become the most effective treatment for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia (Lieberman et al., 2005), but medication non-compliance tends to be a common issue among this population. Approximately one-third of people diagnosed with schizophrenia have been found to be non-compliant with their prescribed medications (West et al., 2005). Medication non-compliance is a very serious issue among this population, as it is associated with relapse, psychiatric hospitalization, and functional outcomes. However, very little is being done to address this issue. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has recently been integrated into treatments for schizophrenia, and several studies have found it to be effective in†¦show more content†¦Research Question Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy effective in improving medication compliance among individuals with schizophrenia? Proposal Contents This proposal contains a summary of the literature related to the issue of medication non-compliance among people with schizophrenia, as well as information regarding Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and how it can be incorporated into an intervention addressing this issue. I have also included a proposed research study to test the effectiveness of such an intervention in order to determine if this would be a useful resource in the treatment of this illness. Strengths and weaknesses of the proposed study, as well as ethical considerations have also been included Literature Review Schizophrenia is the most commonly diagnosed psychotic disorder (Steel, 2012), affecting 1 out of every 100 hundred people on average (Taurier Wykes, 2004). Symptoms of the disorder include positive symptoms, which are auditory and visual hallucinations, as well as disordered patterns of thought such as delusions (Taurier Wykes, 2004). Auditory hallucinations are the most common positive symptom, and often come in the form of voices (Steel, 2012). Delusions, which are the most common symptom of schizophrenia, involve a false belief that exists despite evidence being available that suggests otherwise (Steel, 2012).