L'éducation thérapeutique du patient, quelle histoire!

At a time when the therapeutic patient education (TPE) has gained institutional recognition, questions arise about its future directions: should we focus on the transmission of knowledge and expertise in the management of disease and treatment, or should we foster the patients' personal development in order to involve them in their own care. This is an important question because the answers will have consequences on the procedures and organization of TPE in the future. Looking back at the history of TPE we can see how the issue came about both as a result of the clinical practice of patient education and of the contribution of social sciences and how health professionals have dealt with it.