The evolution of health education: the Kaiser Permanente Southern California experience

This article conveys the history of establishing the health education program, the current delivery model, and the lessons learned from the process including practical applications for the practice setting. The evolution of health education in Kaiser Permanente reflects its history and describes the continued need for and relevance of health education. The era of the patient as the passive recipient of care is being replaced by an emphasis on the patient as a partner in care. Every health education program emphasizes shared responsibility and encourages active participation by the patient, family, and other social supports. Multiple modalities of self-care and/or self-management resources and services increase member access to needed health education, health promotion, and prevention information that facilitate lifestyle behavior changes for better health and simultaneously improve organizational clinical outcome measures. Ongoing efforts align health education with regulatory requirements and the organization's commitment to culturally and linguistically appropriate patient information.