Patient Education in Hospital Sponsored Ambulatory Surgery Programs

摘要

A major objective of the first two years of this contract was to describe the current status of patient education in outpatient settings and health-care-setting-based community health education. The following specific types of settings have been studied: hospitals (urban, rural, multi-institutional); hospital-sponsored outpatient clinics; hospital-sponsored emergency departments; hospital-sponsored home health care programs; health departments; health maintenance organizations; college health services; group practices; community health centers; the U.S. Public Health Service; Veterans Administration facilities; and U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force facilities. In order to collect useful information about patient or community health education activities in these settings as well as to use limited resources carefully, project staff chose to begin with the literature review process. Two examples of hospital-sponsored ambulatory surgery units were chosen to provide more specific information about how patient education was integrated into the functioning of these units. Basic program questionnaires were completed by staff at each example institution. In addition, relevant reports, patient handouts, and other material descriptive of the setting or of the patient education activities also were provided. Based on this information, project staff conducted a 1-hour telephone interview with each ambulatory surgery contact person and prepared draft case studies. These were sent back to the institution for review and expansion as needed before final editing and incorporation into the resource document. Additional contact with these programs is planned during the next two years.