Adherence to Pediatric Medical Regimens

Michael Rapoff received his PhD in Developmental and Child Psychology in 1980 from the University of Kansas and completed a two year post-doctoral internship in Behavioral Pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Rapoff is currently Ralph L. Smith Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Behavioral Pediatrics division in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Rapoff is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is a licensed psychologist in Kansas and Missouri, and is listed in the National Registry of Health Service Providers in Psychology. His research interests during the past 26 years has focused on psychosocial issues affecting children and adolescents with chronic diseases, including adherence to medical regimens, pain, and psychosocial adjustment. He has been funded by NIH and Maternal and Child Health to evaluate strategies for improving adherence to medical regimens for children with asthma and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and by the Arthritis Foundation for evaluating a cognitive-behavioral pain management program for children and adolescents with JRA. Dr. Rapoff has 73 publications in journals or books, including a single-authored book published in 1999 on pediatric medical adherence (Adherence to Pediatric Medical Regimens, Kluwer/Plenum). In 2003, Dr. Rapoff received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, a division of the American College of Rheumatology, in recognition of outstanding rheumatology scholarship. Also in 2003, Dr. Rapoff was elected as a Fellow in the Society of Pediatric Psychology, Division 54 of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Rapoff is currently funded by NIH to evaluate the efficacy of a computer-based CD-ROM program (Headstrong) for treating chronic headaches in children. In addition to his research, Dr. Rapoff trains clinical psychology students in health psychology and pediatric psychology and teaches residents and medical students. He also sees patients once per week in his Behavioral Pediatrics Outreach Clinic in Lawrence, KS.

Definitions of Adherence, Types of Adherence Problems, and Adherence Rates.- Consequences of Nonadherence and Correlates of Adherence.- Adherence Theories: Review, Critique, and Clinical Implications.- Measurement Issues: Assessing Adherence and Disease and Health Outcomes.- Strategies for Improving Adherence to Pediatric Medical Regimens.- Review of Adherence Intervention Studies and Top Ten Ways to Advance Research on Adherence to Pediatric Medical Regimens.