Health education in mental illnesses. Nursing care in body image disorders

In accordance with the presumptions of contemporary health education, it is necessary to ensure cooperation between the nurse and doctors, teachers, dietary experts, psychologists, decision-makers, and scientists, in order to create a health-promoting community that also takes into account cultural differences.
Psycho-education means educating people on mental health, creating individual ways of coping with challenges of everyday life, and independently searching for ways of self-development and self-cognition. All psycho-educational tasks should combine with positive thinking that leads to faith, optimism, and hope, and allows for defeating ones weaknesses. The nurse, as the therapeutic team member, plays a key role both in psycho-education and rehabilitation of mentally ill patients. Thanks to the regular contact with the patient and his or her family and accompanying them during everyday activities, the nurse can assess the patient’s problems and influence the constructive behaviour transformation of the patient and their closest environment. While considering the variety of problems and the scheme of caring activities, we should be aware that each patient requires an individual approach since the course of mental disorders is predictable only to a limited extent.
Aim of the study is to present knowledge of the nursing care of the patient in a disturbed body image based on current scientific knowledge.