Low health literacy is a massive problem in the UK, Europe and United States. The medical community in general has an ongoing problem with low patient adherence to treatments, and this is one problem that could be effectively tackled with better patient support materials. ‘Better’ in this case means support materials that patients with lower health literacy can understand more readily.

Creating support materials that give plenty of information as well as comprehensive instructions or advice on living with a condition can be a difficult undertaking. Medical writers’ natural language will include terms outside general education levels, and a fine line exists between simplification and dumbing down. 

 

Via Giuseppe Fattori, Giovanna Marsico