Educational frame of reference: an additional model for rehabilitation medicine.

Since much of medical rehabilitation is actually training which is focused on helping the patient and/or his/her family become active in the patient's daily care, the addition of the educational frame of reference can make rehabilitation professionals more effective. A recommended model for patient-family education has these components: (1) Identification of patient-family understanding necessary for dealing with his/her problems or potential problems; (2) assessment of current patient-family knowledge, attitudes, and life style; (3) setting of educational goals based on individual patient and family needs; (4) planning an appropriate method of achievement of those goals; (5) implementing the plan; and (6) evaluating according to goals.