The terms ‘psychoeducation’ and ‘self-management education’ are closely related concepts. Bodenheimeret al.
(2002) distinguished between psychoeducation, which
they suggested provides disease-specific information, and
self-management education which teaches problemsolving skills which allow patients to take appropriate
actions to improve their health (Bodenheimer et al.
2002). Psychoeducational interventions have been found
to help persons gain basic knowledge of their illness
(Vreeland et al. 2006). However, psychoeducation alone
does not appear to help clients manage their illness
better or engage in the recovery process as a consequence of this newly gained knowledge (Mueser &
McGurk 2004; Vreelandet al. 2006). Self-management
education provides both education and practical selfmanagement skills to promote active illness management
(e.g. altering medication, monitoring symptoms, or
seeking help).
The aim of self-management education is to facilitate
the ability of the learner to carry out disease-specific
medical regimens, guide health behaviour change, and
provide emotional support for patients so that they can
better manage their disease and live functional lives
(Bourbeau et al. 2003). According to Mueser and
McGurk (2004), effective self-management education in
schizophrenia includes four areas of content: medication
management, recognition of early warning signs of
relapse, development of a relapse prevention plan, and
coping skills for dealing with persistent symptoms
(Mueser & McGurk 2004).
In the case of schizophrenia, it is argued that if patients
learn basic facts about schizophrenia and its management,
they will be able to make informed decisions about their
care (Atkinsonet al. 1996). Second, if they know how to
recognize and appropriately manage early warning signs
of relapse and develop a plan to respond, patients can
learn to prevent relapse. Third, once patients are taught
coping skills, they can use these to deal with persistent
symptoms, the effects of which should become evident in
terms of relapse and re-hospitalization