Dear Julie and other  commenters,
 
A few good words for the JC health literacy "Speak Up"  brochure.  
 
- Congratulations to the JC for making this  initiative.
 
- Text is in conversational style, with lots of  personal "you" context.
 
- Line lengths are roughly 50 characters and spaces,  which according to the 
research, is near the optimum for easy reading.   (perhaps the package is a 
4-fold brochure)
 
- Readability level is quite low; a sample checks out  between 4th and 5th 
grade reading level using the Fry  chart.
 
- The content deals with the real communication  problems that patients 
commonly face.
 
Could it be more suitable?  Yes, vastly so!   Here are some thoughts (based 
on reviewing over 2,000 health care  instructions):
 
1. Use pictures to show the key ideas and  behaviors.  Some research shows as 
much as a 500% improvement in  understanding AND compliance when appropriate 
pictures accompany text.  For  example,  show a picture of a client asking 
questions and a smiling doctor  or nurse;  to reduce errors in med taking, show 
sample pill caddies (pill  boxes) and tell how to use them.  With the benefits 
of using pictures so  great, how can anyone in good conscience not use them?
 
2. Text is too dense - cut wording and use more  bullets.  Rationale:  Some 
paragraphs contain as many as a half dozen  pieces of info. Those are too many 
items for most people to recall. 
 
3. This JC piece isn't the first instruction on  communication - consider 
referencing some others such as "Ask me  3".
 
4. On cover sheet, poor contrast between print and  background color. Improve 
the contrast to make it easier to  read.
 
We hope the JC will consider revising this  piece.
 
best wishes,
 
Len and Ceci Doak
 
 
 
In a message dated 4/15/2008 7:55:44 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
WinstonL at lacnyc.org writes:

Hi all:  I think the development of those brochures represent a great
effort by the  Joint Commission to provide to address the issue of
patient safety from the  patient side. (Their core business seems to be
accreditation and  certification within the health sector)  When I read
some of the  actions they are recommending patients to take, I wonder how
many doctors  would want their patients to ask such deep and challenging
questions! Many  of the statements and questions that they are
recommending patients say or  ask are terrific! I'm sure a lot of doctors
would not feel comfortable with  such a patient!


>From the point of view of the design, layout and  language aspects of

brochures, there is work that needs to be done to make  them more
patient- friendly. It is interesting that the brochure that  speaks about
"Speaking Up" uses the letters that make up the phrase  "speaking up" to
start each section. But unless one looks very carefully,  one would not
recognize the pattern. 
I also agree with others about the  brochures being too text dense. The
covers are attractive. But the layout  of the inside text does not invite
readers who are faced with literacy  challenges.


>From the info on the site the project began in 2002.  There have been a

lot of advances in the health literacy field around plain  language and
how to design printed materials that reflect an understanding  of the
needs of patients with limited literacy.

What this issue  illustrates also is the need for the literacy community
to be engaged and  be seen as a partner with the health sector. We can
bring valuable insights  to the table that emerge from our ongoing
literacy work  students/patients.

Winston Lawrence Ed. D
Literacy Assistance  Center
New York

-----Original Message-----
From:  healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On  Behalf Of Julie McKinney
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 5:55 PM
To:  healthliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 1909] The Joint  Commission's Health
LiteracyCampaign

Hi Everyone,

Check out  these new materials from the Joint Commission. Let the list
know what you  think of them and the campaign in general!

Have a good  weekend,
Julie

*******************
The Joint Commission is  launching a national campaign to help Americans
prevent health care errors  by promoting health literacy.  Understanding
Your Caregivers provides  patients questions and answers that will help
them better understand the  care they receive.  Among the topics are: 

- What can you do if  you don't understand what your caregiver is saying?
- What can you do if  they explain and you still don't understand?
- How do you understand all  the instructions related to medicines, or
even remember all of the  medicines?

The campaign is part of their national patient safety Speak  Up program
which offers downloadable, easy-to-read brochures on issues such  as
preventing medication mistakes, avoiding wrong site surgery,  and
recovering after leaving the hospital.

To download Understanding  Your Caregivers brochures,  visit
http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/SpeakUp/sp_understanding.ht
m

To  download Speak Up brochures,  visit
http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/SpeakUp/

* * * *  * * * * * * * * *


Julie McKinney
Health Literacy List  Moderator
World  Education
jmckinney at worlded.org
----------------------------------------------------
National  Institute for Literacy
Health and Literacy mailing  list
HealthLiteracy at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription  settings, please go  to
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/healthliteracy
Email delivered  to  winstonl at lacnyc.org
----------------------------------------------------
National  Institute for Literacy
Health and Literacy mailing  list
HealthLiteracy at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription  settings, please go to  
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/healthliteracy
Email delivered to  lendoak at aol.com





**************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & 
Finance.      (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/healthliteracy/attachments/20080415/43882363/attachment.html