The issue is not so much "readability", but knowing whether the patient understands the material.  You can write a paragraph with one and two-syllable words that have no meaning when put together, and they will come up as having a low reading grade, but will be completely not understandable.

Handing out brochures without reinforcing the content is often meaningless.  How many handouts do you find littering the hallways and stairwells?  Having patients teach back what they are reading or what is being explained is the goal.  The problem is having adequate staffing and time to accomplish this.



Cheryl Pasternack, CHES
Director, Grants Management
Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center
234 E. 149th  Street, Room 4C-162
Bronx, NY  10451
Email:   Cheryl.Pasternack at nychhc.org 
Phone: (718) 579-5697
Fax:     (718) 579-4602




>>> "Janet Sorensen" <Jsorensen at afmc.org> 8/25/2008 6:06 PM >>>

I'm glad to see this discussion and hope to learn from it. I've always
assumed that a person with diabetes will be familiar with the word, and
so I admit I haven't always counted it as a three-syllable word in doing
readability formulas. But some words are unavoidable and probably
unfamiliar to the audience.

Case in point: We're currently drafting materials for Arkansans who are
on Medicaid and have sickle cell disease, to let them know about a
medicine that may be helpful, particularly in severe cases, in
preventing painful episodes and reducing the need for transfusions. A
poster will encourage them to ask their doctor about it, and a brochure
will give physicians something to hand out to patients to improve
communication about this rather harsh but potentially helpful drug.

The name of the drug is hydroxyurea. So far, I'm putting the
pronunciation key after the drug name on first reference.

Janet Sorensen, Writer
Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care

-----Original Message-----
From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov 
[mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Nielsen, Lynn
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 10:41 AM
To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 2262] Re: CAUTION in printing out Medline
tutorials!

"And I think we all agree that medical terms are necessary and also
important to include in some written materials." 

They are, and you raise excellent points.  I want to add that while
medical terms may be necessary, it is also necessary to restate medical
terms in commonly used words.



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