title: Cognitive mapping: its use as an assessment tool for client education.
abstract: To provide adequate educational interventions for students living with chronic illnesses, health professionals must develop methods suited to each individual's needs. Too often, clients are lumped into a category based on the illness diagnosis and few other factors are taken into consideration. Regardless of the diagnosis, each individual presents with authentic mental representations of the illness and the impact of that illness on important aspects of his or her life. The health professional can offer comprehensive educational interventions when all aspects of the client's own understanding of illness are assessed. Cognitive mapping is an assessment technique that can be used in addition to the initial interview and can be useful throughout the educational process to determine changes in mental representations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise, Sport, and Health Studies, University of Texas at Arlington, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Wiginton
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D019336:Cognitive Science; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D013333:Student Health Services / Q000379:methods*