Women's Health Patient Education Resource Manual. - book review

AORN Journal,  August, 2002  by Gwendolyn Watkins

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second ed Judy Marcus, Sandra Bloom Painter, Eileen Wyner, eds 2001, 521 pp $229 looseleaf binder

Providers of primary health care for women must function in multiple roles, including clinician, teacher, counselor, and advocate. This resource manual serves as an aid in meeting this challenge. It addresses issues that affect effective patient education and provides patient education handouts on a wide range of topics essential to women's health care. The handouts are intended to encourage patients to become active participants in their health promotion. The purpose of this resource manual is to provide low literacy patient education materials to augment the provider's advice and suggestions.

The manual provides a wide range of patient education handouts at the third- and sixth-grade reading levels in both English and Spanish. Topics are organized according to five categories, including wellness/preventive care; common problems by system; special topics (eg, infectious disease, contraception, menopause); behavioral health/psychosocial issues; and tests, examinations, and procedures. Each handout addresses one topic, ranges from one to four pages, and is printed in an easy-to-read font.

The manual also provides information on assessing the educational needs of women and recommends strategies for teaching and counseling women. Issues surrounding effective patient education are reviewed, including literacy, cultural diversity, visual disorders, auditory disorders, emotional/social impairments, and speech/language disorders. In addition, information on how to write easy-to-read patient education materials is included.

This manual is presented in looseleaf format and allows for easy removal of patient education handouts and easy placement of future supplements. The materials will be expanded, refined, and updated through annual supplements. Space is available in the upper right corner of the handouts for inclusion of the facility's logo and contact information. In addition, the handouts are available on CD-ROM, making it possible to personalize them with additional comments, instructions, font changes, and clip art.

The reference materials and handouts can be used in a variety of ways. The handouts can be copied and distributed to patients, and additional instructions can be added as needed. They also can be placed in examination rooms or waiting rooms so patients can read about topics of personal interest. The manual includes a tracking form that can be used to document the patient education given or to highlight the handouts a patient needs. The reference materials and handouts also can be used for staff member development by adding a posttest or using supplemental material, if needed.

I highly recommend this resource manual. It is written clearly and designed for ease of use. It is a welcome addition to the limited resources available to help health care practitioners meet the educational needs of low literacy English- and Spanish-speaking women.

This book is available from Aspen Publishers, Inc, 200 Orchard Ridge Dr, Suite 200, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; http://www.aspenpublishers.com.

GWENDOLYN WATKINS
RN, PHD, CNOR
MANAGER, NURSING EDUCATION AND QUALITY
WEST SUBURBAN HEALTH CARE
OAK PARK, ILL

COPYRIGHT 2002 Association of Operating Room Nurses, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group