Empowerment by patient education in rheumatology

Due to the chronic course, rheumatic diseases may be associated with both long-lasting pain and movement limitations. Those afflicted by these disorders thus face continuous challenges regarding both adapting to their illness as well as changing their lifestyle habits, for example increasing the physical activity levels. However, patient education may provide patients with the competencies they need to cope with their illness and modify their behavior. Therefore, patient education programs are core elements of rehabilitation in rheumatology. The German Society for Rheumatology has performed pioneering work concerning conceptualization and evaluation of standardized educational programs. In this article some more recent developments and up to date standards for contents and didactics of self-management programs are presented. Empowerment may be considered the overriding aim of these programs, i.e. enabling patients to make informed decisions in situations where their health is involved. Patient-centered didactic methods as used in state of the art concepts mirror the empowerment approach. To foster sustainability of lifestyle changes, detailed planning of behavioral modifications is recommended, thus increasing the chance of transferring changes adopted during rehabilitation into everyday living. Such methods have been proven to be effective and are employed in the updated education concept for patients with fibromyalgia syndrome, which is described here as an example. The Centre for Patient Education offers support in updating and evaluating patient education concepts.