Tailored Educational Approaches for Consumer Health (TEACH): a model system for addressing health communication.

The Consumer Health Education Institute (CHEDI) has developed a model system to improve the quality and effectiveness of patient education and health communication. Through assessment of characteristics and preferences, segmentation into groups and matching with the appropriate materials, we have demonstrated that patients and health consumers have different health information needs and preferences which show promise as a basis for selecting or designing the most appropriate materials or programs.