Patient education and engagement are crucial to better outcomes. We know that engaged patients are healthier, more satisfied, and more loyal to providers. And yet, 80% of patients still have questions after leaving a health visit, and 40-80% of patients forget what their provider told them within a care session. However, more often than not, patients want to be involved in decision-making.
Health systems can meet these expectations by looking at the broader picture and making systemic improvements to their patient education strategies. The key is understanding how patient education has evolved, how different patients engage with content, and the importance of providing patients with a trusted source of evidence-based information.
Patient education and mediums are evolving
In the pre-digital era, offices had file cabinets full of health education printouts that had been copied—sometimes way too many times, to the point where they were hard to read. It was what we had to work with, but now with the advent of new technologies like patient portals, smartphones, and electronic health records (EHR), we have a lot more tools in our toolbox.
When we’re working with adult patients, it helps to remember that they have a range of skills, interests, and learning styles. Some learn by doing, others by reading, watching, or listening. How can we best adapt our engagement and educational materials to support the way they learn best?
In the absence of reliable and accessible materials, patients will search for information wherever they can find it in the way that works best for them. Social platforms like TikTok present health information in short, digestible formats in a combination of visual and text formats, but can run the risk of providing misinformation. A May 2024 study of US women ages 18-29 who used TikTok to obtain health information found:
- 93% of participants indicated they had received information from a health professional, and slightly more had received information from a general user.
- Most were likely to act on information from health professionals rather than a general user.
- Many believed misinformation was prevalent, but that they themselves weren’t susceptible.
We need to remember that we’re not doing healthcare to our patients. They’re doing it alongside of us. Getting the right evidence-based, accessible education materials and outreach efforts in front of our patients can help reduce their need to go searching for health information online.
