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. 2019 Dec;29(14):2119-2131.
doi: 10.1177/1049732319856580. Epub 2019 Jul 13.

When Is Forgetting Not Forgetting? A Discursive Analysis of Differences in Forgetting Talk Between Adults With Cystic Fibrosis With Different Levels of Adherence to Nebulizer Treatments

Sarah J Drabble  1 , Alicia O'Cathain  1 , Madelynne A Arden  2 , Marlene Hutchings  3 , Daniel Beever  1 , Martin Wildman  3
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When Is Forgetting Not Forgetting? A Discursive Analysis of Differences in Forgetting Talk Between Adults With Cystic Fibrosis With Different Levels of Adherence to Nebulizer Treatments

Sarah J Drabble et al. Qual Health Res. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Forgetting is often cited as a reason why people struggle to adhere to treatments for chronic conditions. Interventions have tried to improve forgetting behavior using reminders. We used a discursive psychological approach to explore differences in how high and low adherers constructed forgetting their nebulizer treatments for cystic fibrosis. Interviews were conducted with 18 adults from a cystic fibrosis center in the United Kingdom. High adherers constructed forgetting treatments as occasional lapses in automaticity and temporary lapses in memory that they found easy to repair. Low adherers utilized forgetting to normalize more consistent nonadherence to treatments. However, it is important to contextualize forgetting as a discursive resource that helped these participants to negotiate moral discourses around adherence to treatment that reminder interventions cannot address; we therefore recommend a more behavioral, patient-focused, theory-driven approach to intervention development.

Keywords: United Kingdom; adherence; chronic conditions; cystic fibrosis; discourse analysis; intervention; interviews; memory; qualitative.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Professor Martin Wildman received funding from Vertex for conference speaker’s fees and travel support from Pari to attend meetings with Pari in Germany. There are no declarations of conflicts of interest from any of the other authors.

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