THERAPEUTIC EDUCATION PROMOTES THE REORGANISATION OF PATIENTS’ HEALTH KNOWLEDGE

1. VENETO REGION - PADUA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL and ULSS 16, ITALY #Rossato E., °Bonadiman L., ‡Pettenuzzo C,.*Marcolongo R. #Professional Educator, Hospital Training Unit, Padua University Hospital, °General Practitioner, Padua, ‡Physician, Padua, *Physician immunologist, Clinical Immunology Unit, Padua University Hospital Results Introduction • In the evaluation of the two experimental TPE programmesboth a qualitative and a quantitative analysis were applied. The results of SLE patients’ questionnaires, expressed as percentage of right answers before and after TPE, showed an average increase of the knowledge level from 60.5% to 74%. • The qualitative analysis of conceptual maps of asthmatic patients revealed a more structured and complete reorganisation of knowledge about health, disease and treatment. Moreover, the percentage of wrong concepts significantly decreased after TPE. Today many people with chronic diseases ask complete information about disease and treatment in order to share therapeutic decision and responsibility with their doctors. Consequently, doctors and other healthcare professionals, besides ordinary support, are often requested to provide patients with adequate information. Indeed, regular and reliable exchange of information between healthcare personnel and patients is essential in establishing an empathic and reassuring therapeutic partnership. By contrast, incomplete, incorrect or misleading information exchange may cause bad or even fatal consequences on patients’ health, producing anxiety and deteriorating human relationships. Methods and study Population THERAPEUTIC EDUCATION PROMOTES THE REORGANISATION OF PATIENTS’ HEALTH KNOWLEDGE The Clinical Immunology Unit of Padua University Hospital together with the Community Health Service (CHS) started two experimental therapeutic patient education (TPE) programmes addressed to patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematousus (SLE) and bronchial asthma respectively. During a series of structured teaching sessions, small groups of patients received information about disease and treatment and learned some basic self-management skills from healthcare personnel. In 2002, 18 SLE patientsof the Clinical Immunology Unit and 11 asthmatic patients of a general practitioner of Padua CSHhave been enrolled in the TPE programmes. Before and after education, the knowledge of SLE patients about disease, treatment, diet and physical activity was evaluated by a multiple choice questionnaire, whereas asthmatic patients' knowledge and beliefs about disease and treatment were evaluated by means of a conceptual map. Discussion The increase of health literacy and knowledge level of patients and their caregivers after TPE may help them to self-manage the disease and therapy. It is then conceivable that, promoting the integration of new concepts and knowledge in patients’ semantic network, TPE might prompt them to adopt a correct health behaviour, increasing the quality of their life. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Dr. Renzo Marcolongo: Clinical Immunology Unit, Padua Universital Hospital via Giustiniani, 3 – 35128 PADUA (Italy) E-mail: renzo.marcolongo@unipd.it THERAPEUTIC PATIENT EDUCATION LABORATORY– PADUA (ITALY)