Assignment: Reducing Noncompliance in Cystic Fibrosis

While medical advances have improved the life expectancy rate of people diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, children and adolescents must comply precisely with their medications and treatment plans for them to be effective. Noncompliance in cystic fibrosis treatments can cause decreased pulmonary functioning and increased hospitalizations. For example, the noncompliance rates for physiotherapy treatment are approximately 60 percent, and medication noncompliance ranges from 20–40 percent (Llorente, Bousono Garcia, & Diaz Martin, 2008). In order to combat the high rates of noncompliance, medical professionals have been using a variety of psychological interventions, including psychoeducational, psychosocial, and behavioral. The success of these types of interventions, has been comparable to medical treatments. For example, nutritional interventions have been used successfully to increase weight and caloric intake (Drotar, 2006). Although noncompliance may occur at any age, the type of intervention used and the way it is presented will vary based upon the age of the person. Consider how you may present a behavioral intervention to a child or adolescent.

For this Assignment, imagine you are a health psychology professional and you need to develop a behavioral intervention plan for Chelsey when she was noncompliant as a child. Although Chelsey is compliant as an adolescent, consider her noncompliance as a child. Develop a behavioral intervention plan that she could have used as a child. Review the media in this week’s Learning Resources and consider the types of behavioral interventions that you might have recommended to Chelsey when she was younger. Reflect on the importance of rewards systems for children in health psychology but also remember to consider the age of the people with whom you are working. Please note that you will only view media featuring adolescents because of ethical and legal considerations regarding the taping of younger children.

Submit your Assignment by Day 7. This Assignment may be used as the foundation for your comprehensive program due in Week 10. Please review the Week 10 Assignment for additional details.

The Assignment (2–3 pages and the behavioral chart)

• Develop a behavioral intervention to improve Chelsey’s compliance with her medical regimen including her diet, medications, and cystic fibrosis vest use.
• Describe a behavioral intervention technique located in the Learning Resources.
• Create a 2- to 3-page narrative including:
  • A brief description of Chelsey and the age you selected
  • A description of a rewards system you would create for Chelsey based on that behavioral intervention technique
  • A justification for the use of the technique
• Create a behavior chart including the target behaviors and the specific rewards that Chelsey could earn for complying with her medical regimen.
• Support your responses with the Learning Resources and current literature.

Support your assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.