A HEALTH-EDUCATION BOOKLET FOR YOUNG FAMILIES - ITS NEED, USE AND EFFECT

The objective was to describe the effect of a mailed health education booklet for families with children in relation to parents' need for he alth education. It was a randomized controlled trial. The parents' anx iety and use of doctors were registered in a questionnaire, together w ith selected psychosocial conditions, during a retrospective period of six months. An age-stratified random sample of 3913 families - 1953 s tudy families and 1960 control families was drawn in the county of Rin gkjobing, Denmark. The booklet was used a lot; it reduced parents' anx iety and use of doctors in children's illnesses. The effect was most p ronounced in those parents who had least need for health education. Th is method of health education was not very efficient. The possibilitie s and value of combining written health education with personal indivi dual instruction by the general practitioner are discussed.