The classic medical identity is associated with belief that the activity of medical diagnosis is mainly an issue linked to the therapeutic action. If these two actions are key elements in the acute disease, when it comes to monitoring the management of chronic disease symptoms requires “other knowledge” that does not depend on the medical sciences. These come from the humanities means the physician-patient communication, patient teaching, and the psychology of the patient.
Its role is to catalyze the medical action, maintaining medication adherence, improve adherence to treatment. These roles teaching professionals are not a substitute for medical activity, but the center of action.
Patient education is a relatively recent health practice has been progressively integrated into the management of patients with chronic diseases. Represents the expression of a change in conceptions of health that infer that the patient can be his own medicine during a given period. (more…)