Editorial: Using behavioral theories to improve medication use
patient engagement across diverse populations and care settings. Spanning different healthcare contexts, policy changes, disease states, and behavioral frameworks, these articles demonstrate that medication use emerges from a complex interplay of individual beliefs, social norms, healthcare professionals' interactions, and environmental factors.Theoretical models can specify mechanisms that drive decision-making, and articulate why patients with similar demographic profiles may adopt different medication use patterns. A coherent narrative of this Research Topic is that medication use is best understood as a dynamic and complex behavioral process, depending on individuals' belief systems, past experiences, and social influences. For
Authors
- Shikhar Shrestha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4349-8326)
- Amy Chan
- Yifei Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4571-2226)
Institutions
- Tufts University (US)
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- University of Missouri–Kansas City (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Frontiers in Pharmacology
- Published
- 2026-03-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2026.1817864
- Primary Topic
- Medication Adherence and Compliance
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00