Patient compliance in the mental health continuum of care.

Noncompliance--not following through on a treatment plan--is explained by the traditional acceptance of therapists that many psychiatric patients are not motivated for offered therapy. Despite the twenty-year availability, methodologies to facilitate a successful continuum of care have not been widely implemented. Instead, the patient has been blamed for his lack of motivation. The importance of the therapist's behavior, the context, the setting, and the environment of the treatment continuum are discussed. Long-standing but nontraditional program goals and concepts that facilitate a successful continuum of care are presented.