Strategies for patient education

Patient behavior is a part of the problem of high blood pressure and is also a major part of the solution. As with physical diagnosis and medical care, patient education should be based upon a careful assessment, a correct diagnosis, and an individualized plan of care. Health care providers must be able to identify the specific needs of patients for information, skills, support, and reinforcement. They must meet those needs with a combination of educational strategies, adapting approaches as necessary over time. Providers can determine the quantity and quality of information, interaction, and office procedures that reinforce appropriate behavior. Efforts to increase the number of patients who remain in care, with controlled blood pressures, should include effective educational strategies which increase providers' skills, enhance patient-provider relationships and promote active patient participation.