Patient Education, Health Promotion, and Disease Prevention
Core concepts
Understand patient education principles: health literacy, teach-back, motivational interviewing, shared decision-making, and culturally responsive communication. Know health promotion and prevention: physical activity guidelines, fall prevention, cardiovascular risk reduction, bone health, pressure injury prevention, and secondary prevention after stroke. Recognize the role of self-management and caregiver education. Understand behavioral change models (transtheoretical model, self-efficacy) and how to tailor education to readiness.
Traps
Questions test whether education is patient-centered and matched to literacy and readiness rather than one-way instruction. Watch for recommendations that ignore barriers (transportation, cost, cognition). Distinguish primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Do not assume comprehension without teach-back.
Rule of thumb
Educate for action: confirm understanding with teach-back, address barriers, and connect recommendations to the patient's own goals. Prevention advice should be specific, feasible, and reinforced over time.
Worked example
A patient post-stroke with limited literacy: provide pictorial materials, use teach-back to confirm understanding of fall prevention, and involve a caregiver, rather than handing over a written handout alone.