Audio tapes of encounters between a physician, an elderly patient and an accompanying relative are used to describe the formation of coalitions in triadic relationships. A coalition is defined as interaction between two members of a triad who adopt a common strategy in contention with the third member. Preliminary analysis suggests that each medical encounter may contain several coalitions which vary in duration, topic, objectives of members and alignment of members.

Case examples of doctor-patient interactions are used to examine educational strategies employed by physicians to obtain compliance with medication regimens from elderly patients. The problems addressed by the physicians included the complexities of pharmaco-therapy in the elderly (the patients each presented multiple problems involving the use of multiple medications), the limited understandings of the drugs showed by patients and their relatives; and the issue of compliance with instructions. Educational strategies that were effective are described.