[Improvements in patient education from the didactical point of view]

The findings of empirical educational research and the theoretical and experiential knowledge of general didactics and specific didactics of relevant subjects are not adequately considered in the conception and implementation of patient education. The aim of this work is to screen the results of existing research about the quality of instruction, to deduce quality criteria for patient education and to discuss their benefits for the existing practice. The research on the quality of instruction was systematically investigated for this purpose. Subsequently, the 3 empirically validated quality features: "clear structure", "participant-oriented social climate" and "cognitive activation with particular attention to domain-specific components of teaching" we identified were transferred to patient education and concretized by including the theoretical and experiential knowledge of didactics. In the process several domains (conception of manuals, train-the-trainer seminars) were identified in which the quality characteristics can be tied in. The findings of empirical educational research are able to complement the existing measures for quality assurance in the area of patient education. For this purpose the identification and specification together with the possible integration of the 3 quality criteria in the area of patient education are a first step.