Patients should be properly educated if they are to play an active role in the management of their medical conditions and diseases. If one understands why they are suffering from a certain condition and why they have to take a certain drug at particular intervals, they most likely will adhere to the instructions. Using patient education handouts is one of the strategies that has been adopted by many health centers in a bid to pass on important information in a cost effective manner.
The design of a handout will differ depending on a number of factors. The factors include, nature of disease, the age and gender of your clients as well as the social status. To better understand these different aspects, you may need to conduct research. Design questionnaires that seek to establish some of these parameters. Patients will fill in the questionnaires as they come for the first or follow up visits.
When designing handouts for long term and terminal diseases the material that is selected must be durable. The same may be required for endemic illnesses where patient need to come to hospital during particular seasons. This may not be mandatory for acute illnesses where reference is often required just for a brief period of time.
In most cases, the social status is closely related to the level of education. Clients coming from low social economic backgrounds often have lower levels of education. The reverse is often true. By understanding the social status you will be better placed to craft a message that can be easily understood. Ensure that you avoid using too many technical terms and whenever possible provide simpler alternatives.
Apart from the choice of words, ensure that the message is brief and straight to the point. In the hospital setting where the main preoccupation is for one to get well and get back to work, long, convoluted statements may go unread by the majority. The easiest way is to design your handout in manner that there will be headings, subheadings and brief explanations below each subheading.
Pictures and illustrations are an important tool of communication and should be used whenever there is an opportunity. Their main benefits include the fact that they can communicate the message more precisely and make the reading more interesting. Choose pictures that are appropriate for your target audience. You may need to hire a medical illustrator for this task.
Information that is read just once is prone to reinterpretation over a period of time. Keeping the clients in constant contact with the message. This can be achieved by making use of creative ideas such as incorporating the handout into a calendar, bookmark or any other frequently used item. Every time the client uses the item in question, they read the message and it is reinforced.
One of the benefits that will be realized by the health facility in using these tools is the fact that they can be used for advertisement. Information regarding the range of services offered at the facility can be included alongside the original message or just as a foot note. This will work to cut down on advertisement costs.
The design of a handout will differ depending on a number of factors. The factors include, nature of disease, the age and gender of your clients as well as the social status. To better understand these different aspects, you may need to conduct research. Design questionnaires that seek to establish some of these parameters. Patients will fill in the questionnaires as they come for the first or follow up visits.
When designing handouts for long term and terminal diseases the material that is selected must be durable. The same may be required for endemic illnesses where patient need to come to hospital during particular seasons. This may not be mandatory for acute illnesses where reference is often required just for a brief period of time.
In most cases, the social status is closely related to the level of education. Clients coming from low social economic backgrounds often have lower levels of education. The reverse is often true. By understanding the social status you will be better placed to craft a message that can be easily understood. Ensure that you avoid using too many technical terms and whenever possible provide simpler alternatives.
Apart from the choice of words, ensure that the message is brief and straight to the point. In the hospital setting where the main preoccupation is for one to get well and get back to work, long, convoluted statements may go unread by the majority. The easiest way is to design your handout in manner that there will be headings, subheadings and brief explanations below each subheading.
Pictures and illustrations are an important tool of communication and should be used whenever there is an opportunity. Their main benefits include the fact that they can communicate the message more precisely and make the reading more interesting. Choose pictures that are appropriate for your target audience. You may need to hire a medical illustrator for this task.
Information that is read just once is prone to reinterpretation over a period of time. Keeping the clients in constant contact with the message. This can be achieved by making use of creative ideas such as incorporating the handout into a calendar, bookmark or any other frequently used item. Every time the client uses the item in question, they read the message and it is reinforced.
One of the benefits that will be realized by the health facility in using these tools is the fact that they can be used for advertisement. Information regarding the range of services offered at the facility can be included alongside the original message or just as a foot note. This will work to cut down on advertisement costs.
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