Rehabilitation learning needs: patient and family perceptions

Understanding consumer needs for information provides the foundation for empowering patients and families to assume more responsibility for their own care both in hospital and after discharge. Self administered questionnaires identified adult rehabilitation learning needs from the perspectives of patients and their families both during and following hospitalization. The greatest needs for both groups in both time periods were for information about medical, psychosocial and community integration topics. During the in-patient phase, families identified high needs for information which suggests that they should be targeted for educational activities along with patients. Surveys repeated 6 weeks following discharge indicated that information needs were lower but continued to exist.