Stereotyping: the link between theory and practice.

Patient educators have long acknowledged the importance of individualizing educational interventions to the specific needs of individual patients. In this paper, we discuss ways in which stereotyping can interfere with this process. First, we examine stereotyping from the more general perspective of information processing. Biases introduced by stereotyping that affect the way individuals process information are discussed and the concepts of cognitive schemas and behavioral confirmation are described. We then briefly review selected studies that demonstrate stereotyping of patients by health care providers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of stereotyping for patient education and the presentation of four strategies patient educators might employ either to decrease the occurrence of stereotyping or to avoid some of its detrimental effects.