ABSTRACT
From the provider perspective, it is puzzling and frustrating to have successful medical
treatments available for a patient’s serious health condition only to have them ignored. In
the provider’s mind, the patient came for care and sought his or her advice, and therefore
should comply with the prescribed medical regimen. From patients’ points of view,
providers are an important source of needed information about their health and what is
wrong with them. However, the advice providers give is often complex, anxiety
provoking, and challenging to implement. It may be incompatible with personal and
cultural beliefs, may contradict what other providers say, and be inconsistent with the
admonitions of family and friends. Therefore, patients use the information providers give
as only one source of input into a complicated decision about whether to accept medical
advice and how much of it to incorporate into their daily life.
