Impact of juvenile arthritis on families. An educational assessment.

State of the art patient education programs have as their goals changes in behaviors, coping styles, health status, and/or costs. The accomplishment of these goals often involves not only the patient but also his or her whole family. This is especially true if the patient is a child. Based on this premise, we undertook an educational needs assessment of 50 children with juvenile arthritis (JA) and their families. Through utilization of a grounded theory methodology, open-ended questionnaires were completed by JA children, their parents, and their siblings. The resulting analysis suggests (1) the need for family-based education, (2) differing needs of various family members, and (3) several hypotheses for further study.