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ARTHRITIS SELF‐MANAGEMENT: A PATIENT EDUCATION PROGRAM

Whether the nurse likes it or not, teaching is inherent in her profession, and her position makes health guidance one of her obligations (Harmer, Henderson, 1958). This statement, taken from a fundamentals of nursing text, reveals the manner in which many nurses were introduced to patient education. There is little content in the standard nursing curriculum to prepare nurses for this role. For nurses who work in rehabilitation, patient education is especially important since the ultimate goal is patients who are as independent as possible. Such independence is accomplished through understanding of the disease or injury and making necessary life adjustments to accomplish the tasks of daily living. Understanding and adjustments are the results of patient education. This article will discuss the design of rehabilitation patient education programs, using as an example the Stanford Arthritis Center’s Arthritis Self-help Program (ASH). Although the ASH course is used as a prototype, the same steps should be followed in developing any patient education program.