Older Patients and Physicians As Partners¿A Video

Active patient involvement in therapeutic decision making has been related to increased adherence to prescribed medical regimens and improved disease prognosis. Older patients, however, are less likely to assume an active role because they accept the physician as authority and, therefore, assume a passive role during the physician visit. The purpose is to develop and test an educational videotape to empower elders to take an active role as partners with physicians in their health care. The videotape is an educational tool that can provide realistic examples of partnership behaviors and techniques to improve elders' communications and satisfaction in health care encounters. Currently no videotape regarding this issue is commercially available. The aims of Phase I are to: 1) develop the content areas of the videotape; 2) produce a script for the 30-minute videotape; 3) develop a list of distribution outlets; and 4) arrange for the production of the videotape. Phase II activities will involve production of the videotape and a test of the videotape's effect on select patient behaviors. The final product at the end of Phase II will be the videotape kit with distribution through aging service organizations, health care providers and television broadcast outlets.