Patient Education

Pt.’s should be educated in the following subjects: Nutrition & Diet Exercise and wt. Control Prevention of STD’s Smoking Cessation Alcohol & Drug prevention and tx Proper use of meds and prescribed tx for infection Stress reduction techniques Disease management

Disease Prevention tips Teach hand-washing Good personal hygiene Use tissues when coughing or sneezing Maintain adequate ventilation & light in the home Routinely use a commercial disinfectant Adhere to immunization schedules Eat nutritious foods, stay physically fit Avoid stress Protect against tick, animal & insect exposure

Preventative Health screenings Breast, skin or cervical cancer Mammography Pap smears Colonoscopy After 50- monthly breast self-exam, testicular exams Lead poisoning check for children Blood pressure Cholesterol

Preventative Health Programs Prenatal Care Health Advisors warn about community Threats: air pollution, epidemics Tobacco control programs Nutrition information Teenage pregnancy STD’s Violence

Preventative Health Programs cont. Infant mortality Alcohol and drug use Flu shot clinids AIDS education Identifying disease threats Child immunization programs Environmental protection Enforcement of health and safety codes

Appraise patients of health risk factors and methods of reduction Several factors increase a person’s chances of having a heart attack. Some risk factors can be changed or controlled, others cannot. The danger of heart attack increases with the number of risk factors- the more present, the greater the risk. Reducing risk factors, can slow arterial disease and even reverse it.

Risk Factors cont. Men have an increased risk of heart attack. But it is important for women to control changeable risk factors as well. A woman’s chance of dying after a heart attack is greater than a man’s, and heart disease is the leading cause of death in women.