LibGuides: Health Literacy: Patient Education

Patient Education Service

We are happy to help you edit your patient education so it is easier to understand for all patients. Kelsey Grabeel, Associate Professor at the Health Information Center / Preston Medical Library, has been specifically trained in how to implement plain language design and writing principles in health information education.

Our services include:

Finding the current reading grade level of your education piece.
Making suggested edits using track changes on how to lower the reading level of your patient education.
After you review the changes, we will re-evaluate the document to find the new reading grade level.
Working with you to make sure the document contains all relevant information while becoming a more concise, easy to read patient education document.

Please allow 2-3 weeks for each piece of patient education. If your document is longer than 20 pages, please allow 4-6 weeks. If you need the document sooner than 2 weeks, please contact Kelsey as soon as possible.

Email Kelsey Grabeel at kgrabeel@utmck.edu to get started, or if you have any questions.

Evaluation Tools

CDC Clear Communication Index
The Clear Communication Index (Index) provides a set of research-based criteria to develop and assess public communication products. The Index supports the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to comply with the Plain Writing Act of 2010 and achieve goals set forth in the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy and the CDC Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy.
Flesch Reading Ease
A great tool to use to evaluate reading grade level. It is available on Microsoft Word. Make sure to use Flesch Reading Ease and not Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.
Fry Readability Formula
The Fry Readability Formula assigns an approximate grade reading level to a passage of text. Applying the formula will help you decide how to edit your document so that it is more readable. The formula depends on the vocabulary and sentence structure of the text, not the organization or content.
The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) and User’s Guide
The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) is a systematic method to evaluate and compare the understandability and actionability of patient education materials. It is designed as a guide to help determine whether patients will be able to understand and act on information. Separate tools are available for use with print and audiovisual materials.
The SAM
The SAM, developed by Len and Ceci Doak, offers a tool for assessing texts. The SAM enables reviewers to move beyond mere readability assessments and consider the many important aspects of materials such as organization format, design and culture-that ease or hinder reading, comprehension and use. Information on SAM can be found on pg 51-60 of the Doak, Doak and Root book Teaching Patients with Low Literacy Skills, Second Edition.
SMOG
The SMOG Readability Formula is a simple method you can use to determine the reading level of your written materials. If a person reads at or above a grade level, they will understand 90-100% of the information. Generally, you need to aim for a reading level of sixth grade or less. In addition, to ensure that the text is clear and readable, read your draft aloud.

Writing or Editing Patient Education

CDC Simply Put
The guidance in Simply Put helps you transform complicated scientific and technical information into communication materials your audiences can relate to and understand. The guide provides practical ways to organize information and use language and visuals. This guide will be useful for creating fact sheets, FAQ’s, brochures, booklets, pamphlets, and other materials, including web content.
Everyday Words for Public Health Communication
Everyday Words for Public Health Communication offers expert recommendations from CDC's Health Literacy Council and other agency communicators on how to reduce jargon and improve reader understanding.

You can search for public health jargon or plain language words and find alternatives and example sentences.