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Guidelines for Developing Patient Education Materials

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Creating a Lifestyle Medicine Center

Abstract

Patients are more likely to meet their health management goals and achieve positive health outcomes when they receive engaging, easy-to-read educational materials, particularly as an adjunct to one-to-one counseling sessions. Using Plain Language to develop patient education materials is key to enhancing health literacy and meeting these goals. Plain Language guidelines, as well as tips to adapt materials for web and mobile delivery systems are addressed. A variety of available resources are also provided that support healthcare professionals in their efforts to enhance and motivate learning.

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Abbreviations

ADA:

Americans with Disabilities Act

AHRQ:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

AIDS:

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

AV:

Audiovisual

CDC:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CHAT:

Conversational Health Literacy Assessment Tool

CMS:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

CT:

Computed tomography

HCP:

Healthcare professional

HHS:

US Department of Health and Human Services

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

HTML:

Hyper text markup language

IS:

Internet services or strategies

IT:

Information technology

NIDDK:

National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

NVS:

Newest Vital Sign

PEMAT:

Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool

RTF:

Rich text format

SAHL:

Short Assessment of Health Literacy

TOFHLA:

Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Patient Education Department, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA

    Anne Findeis MS RN & Magdalyn Patyk MS RN BC

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  1. Anne Findeis MS RN
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  2. Magdalyn Patyk MS RN BC
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health at Mount Sinai Heart, and the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Jeffrey I. Mechanick

  2. Departments of Medicine and Medical Education, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Robert F. Kushner

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Findeis, A., Patyk, M. (2020). Guidelines for Developing Patient Education Materials. In: Mechanick, J.I., Kushner, R.F. (eds) Creating a Lifestyle Medicine Center. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48088-2_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48088-2_14

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