PATIENT EDUCATION AND HEALTH PROMOTION - CLINICAL HEALTH PROMOTION - THE CONCEPTUAL LINK

A model linking health promotion, health education and patient educati on is presented. Claims to health education being distinguishable from patient education on the basis of setting and working with well, as o pposed to sick, individuals are disputed. Many health education encoun ters create the role of proto-patient for the individual receiving car e. A further distinction is made between patient education and clinica l health promotion on the basis of the focus of care as seen by the pr ofessional. The linking elements in the model are those of the patient role and relationships adopted, another distinction is seen in the ar ea of the focus of the encounter. Traditional patient education focuse s on the disease process whereas clinical health promotion emphasises the place of illness in the person's life and looks to influence non-m edical factors that impinge on the disease. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.