Steps Involved In Preparing Patient Education Materials
There are many ways of passing information to patients within a healthcare facilities. One of the most effective yet economical option involves the use of patient education handouts. The handouts can be customized to communicate different messages and help in promoting the facility at the same time. There are four main components that are considered when preparing these handouts. These include the content, the illustrations to be included, the design and the production.
The content is the heart of the handout and should ideally consume most of your time. It refers to the choice of words and the message that they will relay to the clients. Start by creating a small outline of what you intend to put down. Come up with a few paragraphs with each addressing an important point. There are many different formats of presentation that can be adopted. The question and answer approach is by far the most preferred.
If you have been practicing for some time, it should be fairly easy to come up with the questions that are frequently asked by patients and generate suitable answers to the same. You can team up with your colleagues to help generate more ideas. They will use their experiences to advice on the areas that should receive the greatest emphasis.
If you are dealing with a large heterogeneous group, try and break it down into smaller units. Segmentation can be done based on factors such as age, gender and common medical conditions among others. This will enable you develop a more targeted message. You can develop questionnaires that will help you establish important characteristics such as social status, reading levels and a brief medical history.
Choose a level of vocabulary that is in keeping with the level of education of most if not all your clients. The sentences that are used in the text should ideally be short, concise and with a specific objective. Avoid convoluted explanations that will lose the reader. Choose a smaller area of the subject matter even if it means having several titles existing separately. If you wish to discuss hypertension, focus on one area such as causes, treatments or complications.
Illustrations should be included to reduce the monotony of reading text and to add color to your presentation. They are broadly classified into two; informational and filler. Informational illustrations are meant to educate and serve to help explain an idea. Filler illustrations, on the other hand have no real value. They may include for example, a happy mother who has delivered a baby or a senior basking in the sun.
The design is the packaging process that is adopted. The type of design that is chosen will determine whether or not the material you have prepared will generate interest. The main considerations of design include color, font and readability. You may have to do some prior research to determine what would appeal to your target audience.
If you have some money to spare then you may hire an agency to the same for you. There are downsides and benefits of taking this approach. One of the benefits is the fact that it will help you avoid the stress that is associated with the whole process. The main downside is that it may be quite expensive if you plan on producing different titles periodically to meet the changing needs of your clients.
The content is the heart of the handout and should ideally consume most of your time. It refers to the choice of words and the message that they will relay to the clients. Start by creating a small outline of what you intend to put down. Come up with a few paragraphs with each addressing an important point. There are many different formats of presentation that can be adopted. The question and answer approach is by far the most preferred.
If you have been practicing for some time, it should be fairly easy to come up with the questions that are frequently asked by patients and generate suitable answers to the same. You can team up with your colleagues to help generate more ideas. They will use their experiences to advice on the areas that should receive the greatest emphasis.
If you are dealing with a large heterogeneous group, try and break it down into smaller units. Segmentation can be done based on factors such as age, gender and common medical conditions among others. This will enable you develop a more targeted message. You can develop questionnaires that will help you establish important characteristics such as social status, reading levels and a brief medical history.
Choose a level of vocabulary that is in keeping with the level of education of most if not all your clients. The sentences that are used in the text should ideally be short, concise and with a specific objective. Avoid convoluted explanations that will lose the reader. Choose a smaller area of the subject matter even if it means having several titles existing separately. If you wish to discuss hypertension, focus on one area such as causes, treatments or complications.
Illustrations should be included to reduce the monotony of reading text and to add color to your presentation. They are broadly classified into two; informational and filler. Informational illustrations are meant to educate and serve to help explain an idea. Filler illustrations, on the other hand have no real value. They may include for example, a happy mother who has delivered a baby or a senior basking in the sun.
The design is the packaging process that is adopted. The type of design that is chosen will determine whether or not the material you have prepared will generate interest. The main considerations of design include color, font and readability. You may have to do some prior research to determine what would appeal to your target audience.
If you have some money to spare then you may hire an agency to the same for you. There are downsides and benefits of taking this approach. One of the benefits is the fact that it will help you avoid the stress that is associated with the whole process. The main downside is that it may be quite expensive if you plan on producing different titles periodically to meet the changing needs of your clients.
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