Patient Education in Our Offices
Their Relation to Patient Outcomes and Process of Care
A commitment to patient education
In a society where the major underlying causes of mortality are modifiable lifestyle factors9 (eg, smoking, physical inactivity, and poor nutritional habits) it seems entirely rational for patient education to be a primary responsibility of all health professionals and a priority for research and continuing education. It is unfortunate that the nurses observed in the study by McVea and colleagues were observed to function “in a very mechanical… way that did not allow them to respond to the educational needs of patients.” Professional nursing values and training, like those of family medicine, include a commitment to patient education. Could the factors that prevented the fulfillment of this principle for these nurses threaten family physicians as well?
Family medicine’s professional organizations have provided leadership and support to maintain patient education as a core value of the discipline. Only the family medicine community has an annual conference entirely devoted to patient education; that conference is now in its 21st year. Among the 3 primary care disciplines, only the accreditation standards of the Residency Review Committee for Family Practice require training in patient and health education for residents. Family physicians should be proud of this leadership and commitment. We hope to see more patient education research in the Journal to help sustain this commitment.
