Part five: Practical step 2 – The delivery of patient education

As we have seen in previous chapters, effective patient education goes beyond simply providing information or teaching skills, it must be tailored to the individual’s needs. A one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be effective because every patient comes with different levels of health literacy, knowledge, skills, beliefs, expectations, concerns and readiness to learn.

Once we understand our patient’s educational needs, our next step is prioritising our education, structuring it effectively, and delivering it in a way that enhances understanding, retention and shared decision making. This section explores how we can best tailor and deliver patient education in a way that is patient-centred, evidence-based, and practical.