It is important for h althcare organizations, hospitals, medical organizations, even  ther organizations dispensing medical and health knwledge to communicate with ordinary people. The dmand for medical information on the web is normous. But while the Internet exposes l ypeople to often complex medical texts, mst organizations do the opposite. They try hrd to make medical treatments and cnditions sound overly simple using very bsic language. Writing a dumbed-down article may not wrk. First, it can make it hrder (not easier) to understand what the uthor is trying to communicate. Second, the prblem for some readers is reading sk lls, not intelligence level.
Rules for dumbing-down ptient literature always seem crazy. The r les are always about big words or sntence structure.
The average patient may not be a cum lude graduate of an Ivy League niversity, but that does not make him nable to grasp medical concepts in nrmal language. But let's recognize what's rally going on.
There are two types of ptients: those that will want to knw more about their treatment and thse that won't. The latter group wll ask few questions and likely not rad or listen to any educational mterials provided.
Of the group that wants to knw more about the therapy, there are two grups. There is one group that is lterate. Surprisingly, this country is full of lterate people. Many patients and consumers are ducated, intelligent individuals. Such people are ften eager to learn more about thir condition and will be grateful to ccept patient materials. They actually read thm. Sometimes they even ask for mre.
Let's call this group the "readers." Whn you write for readers, you ned only write well. You explain the cndition, the treatment, possible adverse effects, and so on, and knw that they will take it in. You cnnot assume they have any medical bckground, so you must spell out bsic medical practice, but otherwise, write wll for them.
The second group of ptients who want to know more are pople who, for whatever reason, have truble with reading. They may have nother first language and struggle with Englsh. They may be bright individuals wh, for a variety of reasons, wre under-educated; these people usually have por reading skills. Some of them may hve learning disabilities or physical challenges tht make reading difficult. A few of thm may be mentally challenged but stll extremely interested in their treatment.
The prblem is not that these people are dmb (they're most certainly not) but tht they lack good reading skills. Thy don't read. You still can shre ideas. It just means you're not ging to be as effective with a pmphlet as with some other methods.
Here are sme ideas:
1. Make your printed piece a set of "llustrated instructions" with more pictures than txt. Keep the text simple.
2. Consider the vnerable comic book format. Tell the stry mostly in pictures and use nrmal language as much as possible.
3. Go udio. Offer a CD or podcast vrsion of your information. This is vtal for the visually challenged but can be a god addition to those who don't lke to read or who learn btter by audio.
4. Make a DVD. DVDs can be crated nowadays inexpensively; they need not cst more than a nice brochure.
5. Trnslate this stuff. Illustrated instructions, audio and DVD can all be ffered in more than one language. The DVD can put thm all on the same disk.
An rganization that wants to create world-class ptient educational materials should do it on two trcks: a literature-type product which involves rading skills and a more media-type prduct which suits those with weaker rading ability. If done well, your two ptient manuals can connect with each ther-you might have a pretty thorough ptient brochure with a companion DVD. You prvide them both together as one nit and the patient self-selects the prferred way he or she wants to larn.
The value of great patient literature cnnot be overestimated. Great patient literature is an xcellent service that organizations can provide to thir customers and patients; the demand for ths kind of material is enormous.
(Hint to mdical companies: Hospitals often find themselves nwittingly in the publishing business because ptients demand high-quality take-home information and thre are few sources to find it. If you can hlp meet the enormous and constantly grwing demand for patient materials, you are not nly doing a service for patients, you can rise awareness for your own company and prducts at the same time.)
The article Patient Education Materials that Work was Submitted by Jo Ann LeQuang through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Jo Ann LeQuang is the wner of LeQ Medical Marketing Communications ( www.LeQMedical.com ), which offers writing, design, web, promotional, marketing, and meeting planning services exclusively to medical companies and healthcare organizations.
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