Personal Context Profile for Personalizing Clinical Guidelines

One of the greatest challenges facing physicians and chronic patients is sustaining patient adherence to treatment recommendations over time. Surveys (Van Dulmen et al., 2007) made in various countries indicate a sad situation where less than half of the chronically ill patients adhere to the treatment recommendations given by medical staff. Patients struggle to meet
long-term recommendations as they might contradict their desire to maintain their daily routine. Our study (Fux, Peleg, & Soffer, 2012) and other surveys (Vermeire, Hearnshaw, Van Royen, & Denekens, 2001)(Mcdonald & Garg, 2002) suggest that one of the main reasons is patients personal constraints, which can vary over time. Many physicians recognize this conflict and try to adjust long-term treatment recommendations to accommodate the patient's lifestyle and habits.