Testing a teaching appointment and geragogy-based approach to medication knowledge at discharge

Limited research is available on how best to provide discharge teaching for rehabilitation patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different methods for providing education to increase patient knowledge about discharge medications. Using a convenience sample of patients and family members, a randomized, experimental study design was conducted to compare three methods for teaching about discharge medications (geragogy format plus scheduled time for teaching; geragogy format alone; standard teaching method). No differences were found in knowledge between the three teaching methods, but family members had significantly lower confidence levels before the teaching sessions than patients; patients' confidence levels increased after education (p = .002). Although the teaching method did not affect medication knowledge, family members (though not patients) experienced significant increases in confidence levels for administering discharge medications after the education.