The pediatric family-patient health education library: the issue of access to information

Access to medical information and full and complete disclosure of diagnostic and therapeutic data are becoming important themes in physician-family-patient relationships. A health education library that provides consumers with comprehensive reference materials, including texts originally designed for a professional readership, can be used to meet demands from the lay public for better communication between doctor and patient. although realistic concerns about in impact on families of explicit or detailed medical information have been raised, the actual incidence of such problems has been very low among the users of such an "open access" library at our institution. However, support by physicians of the library as a useful resource and their willingness and availability to discuss materials read by patients and family members are key factors in the success of such a project.