A health education booklet for young families--its need, use and effect

Abstract

The objective was to describe the effect of a mailed health education booklet for families with children in relation to parents' need for health education. It was a randomized controlled trial. The parents' anxiety and use of doctors were registered in a questionnaire, together with selected psychosocial conditions, during a retrospective period of six months. An age-stratified random sample of 3913 families--1953 study families and 1960 control families was drawn in the county of Ringkjøbing, Denmark. The booklet was used a lot; it reduced parents' anxiety and use of doctors in children's illnesses. The effect was most pronounced in those parents who had least need for health education. This method of health education was not very efficient. The possibilities and value of combining written health education with personal individual instruction by the general practitioner are discussed.