L'éducation thérapeutique du patient comme élément structurant du parcours du soin

Among patients' new expectations, the desire to take part in the therapeutic project as persons considered in their complexity calls a reflection on the coordination which must be organized between the various professionals involved in their treatment in order to warrant patients' full participation. We propose herein that patient education represents a structuring element which makes such a synthesis possible, inasmuch as its raison d'être is understood in a general manner that may be seen as the very definition of what is referred to as “patient education”: to give a sense, i.e. at the same time a meaning and a direction, to a therapeutic project in which various professionals interact with the person with a chronic disease. This “sense” may also represent the very definition of what is referred to as a “care pathway” where patient education has a planner role.