I know health literacy and written communication is not the sexiest topic in the world. But here at FHO, we’re pretty committed to making sure all of our patients receive the highest quality, targeted healthcare services. This means that when we’re discharging patients, they receive materials that allow them to best understand how to care for themselves once they leave our charge. That’s part of what separates us from forensic evidence techs, after all.
Medscape posted a nice article on the topic, from this month’s Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN). Enhancing Written Communications to Address Health Literacy is a good walk-through on the issue if you’re considering how to rewrite patient education materials to be as accessible as possible. The current edition of OJIN also has an article on assessing and addressing health literacy, if you need a good starting point. Both are free and full-text with registration on Medscape (also free).