How Patient Education Handouts Can Help You Take Care Of Yourself And Your Family

In most doctors' waiting rooms, you'll find pamphlets, brochures and even booklets about health-related issues. They make for an interesting diversion from the dog-eared magazines but they also have a much more important function. Patient education handouts can help you take care of yourself and your family.

The handouts are there for you to take home. This is why they're compact and free. They're normally in English but you can often find translated versions too. Many, for instance, are available in Spanish as well. The aim of these materials is to explain the facts around certain conditions in a way that is accessible to people who don't have a medical background and don't understand medical jargon.

Many pamphlets are related to living a healthy lifestyle and preventing illness. These days, most complaints that take people to the doctor, from gallstones to type 2 diabetes, are related to factors such as poor diet, smoking and drinking or not getting enough exercise. If you know, for instance, which foods to avoid and which to eat more of, you can reduce your risk of getting these conditions or, in some cases, even reverse the symptoms.

One of the most important developments in disease prevention has been vaccines. Most countries are now polio and smallpox free due to massive vaccination programs. You also need to have your child vaccinated against other communicable diseases, including measles and mumps. These diseases can have terrible consequences and not having your child vaccinated against them is irresponsible not only towards your family but towards the entire community. Pamphlets about vaccination will tell you more about how these vaccinations work and when to get them.

If you've already been diagnosed with a specific disease, you may find a booklet about it very helpful. It will answer those questions you forgot to ask your doctor about when you were first dealing with the diagnosis. Usually it uses simple language and diagrams to explain what the condition is, what may have caused it, what the symptoms are and your options for treatment.

Handouts are essential too in times when there is an outbreak of a highly contagious disease. Some of these diseases, such as ebola, are very scary and it's easy for people to panic. However, if you know more about how the disease is spread and what it does, you'll know when to seek medical help. This can help contain the outbreak.

You'll also find the educational handouts very useful for all those things you've always wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. Some disease symptoms can be embarrassing and you may not want to discuss them with your doctor. However, reading about them in the privacy of your own home will help you make an informed decision about the seriousness of these symptoms. It can in fact save your life.

Most educational materials for patients are produced either by health councils or by pharmaceutical companies. They're normally written by experts in the field. With the cost of health care, you may be loathe to go to the doctor for every little complaint. However, if you have a collection of pamphlets and booklets to refer to, it will help you decide what to do when you do fall ill.