Perspectives on cancer patient education.

OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview on cancer patient education. DATA SOURCES: Literature related to demographic and health care trends, patient education, health literacy, and cancer patient information needs.
CONCLUSIONS: Cancer patients need information related to diagnosis, treatment, side effects, self-care needs, and effects on work and relationships. Planned patient teaching includes a variety of teaching strategies and written materials, and contributes to better patient outcomes. Inadequate health literacy and other barriers present challenges to providing effective patient education. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: More research is warranted in developing assessment tools and effective health education techniques and in measuring outcomes and costs related to patient education. The education needs of cancer patients will not drastically change in the next century. How nurses meet those needs, however, will change as we apply new learning theories and technologies of teaching.