Physician’s Listening and Adherence to Medical Recommendations among Persons with Diabetes

Every year, millions of people die of diabetes-related complications. Despite this risk, patients’ nonadherence to lifesaving medical recommendations remains a persistent crisis. One factor that could increase adherence is the formation of an alliance with the medical staff. This alliance, in turn, may increase when the patient perceives that the health care staff is willing to listen. To test this model, we asked people with diabetes, N = 76, to report (a) perceptions of listening by their nurse and physician, (b) their working alliance with the medical-staff members, and (c) several indicators of adherence with medical recommendations. The results suggested that listening is highly correlated with working alliance, r = .84, both with the nurse and the physician. Furthermore, both listening by the physician, r = .27, and alliance with the physician, r = .44, were associated with medication adherence. Listening by the physician, and alliance with the physician were not associated with adherence to life-style recommendations, but hinted at possible associations with glycemic control, r’s = .19, and.22, respectively. Our findings suggest that listening is an important facet of a working alliance, which in turn appears to positively affect the health of patients with diabetes.