step-care therapy, a therapeutic program that begins with a simple, conservative type of treatment but may advance to more complex stages as needed to achieve control of a disease or disorder. An example is step-care therapy of hypertension, in which the first step is limited to nonpharmacological treatments, such as weight control, low-salt diet, and exercise. If the first step fails to produce results, the next step may be the prescription of diuretics, followed by the use of beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, or other drugs, until an effective form of treatment is found.
