Self management: a new paradigm in patient education?

Abstract

A considerable number of gynecological patients do not seem to gain sufficient benefit from regular care. Until now we used to refer these patients to psychosomatic or psychosocial departments for additional intensive patient education and/or psychological interventions. However, since the functional characteristics of these intensive interventions become more and more clear, and because cost-effectiveness is beginning to play a major role in healthcare, a new perspective is dawning: let patients manage their own disease. The new approach puts far more emphasis on patients' attitudes and motivation and on the translation from the hospital setting to real life situations. The self management paradigm uses a truly individualized approach. Patient education is tailored to a patient's lifestyle, including personal characteristics and specific type of social support system. A last crucial element of the new paradigm is the use of a holistic or psychosomatic view.