One of the pillars of healthcare provision is effective communication. There are many ways through which information can be passed to patients. Those that are commonly used include television and radio print media, health talks and the internet among others. Each of them is associated with a number of advantages and disadvantages. Patient education handouts are arguably one of the easiest tools to use for this purpose.
The content of the handout is, without a doubt, the most important aspect of the exercise. Coming up with the message is also the most difficult task of the entire activity. The factors that will determine what goes to the brochure as the message include the type of disease being dealt with, the age and gender of patients. There may be a need to conduct some research beforehand to understand these segments.
The format chosen will also determine, to a large extent, the readability of your brochure. A commonly used format is that of titles and subtitles. Titles address the main topic while subtitles deal with smaller issues under this topic. In the case of diabetes, for example, the topics may include causes, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and so on. Subtitles under treatment may include, drugs, physical exercise, diet modification and so on. Question and answer format is also popular.
The level of vocabulary should correspond to the level of education of the target audience. The sentences should ideally be short, concise and straight to the point. Too much detail may cause the readers to lose interest easily and should be avoided. If you feel compelled to discuss various aspects of medical conditions in a lot more detail then the best thing to do would be to develop separate brochures for the same.
The importance of illustrations cannot be overemphasized. In general, you will have two types of illustrations to choose from. They include the informational and the filler types. Informational illustrations are usually included in the material for educational purposes. An example of this type is a heart showing the heart and its associated vessels. Fillers are mainly added to add color and to break the monotony of text. They would include, for instance, a happy client, images of medical equipment and so on.
The entire exercise may be outsourced if you feel that you are not up to the task. The agency will conduct research in the facility to find out the kind of clients that you are dealing with and what their needs are. They then proceed to design what they think will meet these needs in the best way possible. This frees you and you can continue with your normal routines uninterrupted. The main downside is that it makes the whole exercise quite expensive.
Brochures are usually used in advertising besides being educational tools. The advertisements are mainly achieved by listing down the services that are likely to be obtained in a given facility. If a certain medical condition is being discussed in the brochure, the treatments available at the facility can be included as advertisements. Ensure that the advertisements do not take up more than 20% of the brochure.
There is a high probability that educational handouts will continue to be used for a long time to come. The conversion of the brochures into soft copies has made it possible to distribute the material quite easily electronically. Another modification that has encouraged their use is the adoption of more creative designs such as calendars and bookmarks.
The content of the handout is, without a doubt, the most important aspect of the exercise. Coming up with the message is also the most difficult task of the entire activity. The factors that will determine what goes to the brochure as the message include the type of disease being dealt with, the age and gender of patients. There may be a need to conduct some research beforehand to understand these segments.
The format chosen will also determine, to a large extent, the readability of your brochure. A commonly used format is that of titles and subtitles. Titles address the main topic while subtitles deal with smaller issues under this topic. In the case of diabetes, for example, the topics may include causes, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and so on. Subtitles under treatment may include, drugs, physical exercise, diet modification and so on. Question and answer format is also popular.
The level of vocabulary should correspond to the level of education of the target audience. The sentences should ideally be short, concise and straight to the point. Too much detail may cause the readers to lose interest easily and should be avoided. If you feel compelled to discuss various aspects of medical conditions in a lot more detail then the best thing to do would be to develop separate brochures for the same.
The importance of illustrations cannot be overemphasized. In general, you will have two types of illustrations to choose from. They include the informational and the filler types. Informational illustrations are usually included in the material for educational purposes. An example of this type is a heart showing the heart and its associated vessels. Fillers are mainly added to add color and to break the monotony of text. They would include, for instance, a happy client, images of medical equipment and so on.
The entire exercise may be outsourced if you feel that you are not up to the task. The agency will conduct research in the facility to find out the kind of clients that you are dealing with and what their needs are. They then proceed to design what they think will meet these needs in the best way possible. This frees you and you can continue with your normal routines uninterrupted. The main downside is that it makes the whole exercise quite expensive.
Brochures are usually used in advertising besides being educational tools. The advertisements are mainly achieved by listing down the services that are likely to be obtained in a given facility. If a certain medical condition is being discussed in the brochure, the treatments available at the facility can be included as advertisements. Ensure that the advertisements do not take up more than 20% of the brochure.
There is a high probability that educational handouts will continue to be used for a long time to come. The conversion of the brochures into soft copies has made it possible to distribute the material quite easily electronically. Another modification that has encouraged their use is the adoption of more creative designs such as calendars and bookmarks.
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patient education handouts are now available on our official website. To learn more about these educational materials, go directly to this page http://www.vivacare.com.
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