Case Study: Treatment Adherence in a 13-Year-Old Deaf Adolescent Male

Abstract

This article describes the case of a 13-year-old deaf adolescent male with end-stage renal disease presenting with incomplete adherence to his medical treatment regimen. There is a review of the factors affecting his treatment adherence, including developmental, communication and psychiatric issues. The article includes a description of an in-patient treatment intervention comprising educational, organizational and behavioral components, as well as the individual and family psychiatric treatment of the patient’s co-morbid psychiatric illness. Adaptations to the treatment intervention that were made to address the patient’s communication difficulties are also discussed.