Improving the practice of pediatric patient education: a synthesis and selective review

Patient education within the pediatric-care setting can be defined as any combination of planned learning experiences designed to facilitate adaptations of behavior conducive to health. It is directed both toward patients and toward significant adult caretakers in the child's environment. Additionally, health promotion and health education outside of the patient-care setting are required to promote child health. These efforts include legislation directed toward environmental hazards as well as community- and school-based health education programs. Although educating children and their parents is a routine part of pediatric health care, patient education efforts often reflect poorly applied principles of learning. Social learning theory provides useful constructs that can serve as a basis for developing, implementing, and evaluating pediatric patient education. These constructs focus attention on environmental influences on the learner, the role of modeled behavior for health outcomes in children, and the key concepts of perceived self-efficacy and family and social support.