Our top tips for improving the health literacy of your materials
Health literacy broadly refers to an individual’s ability to access, understand, and use information in ways that promote and maintain good health for themselves, their families, and their communities (as defined by the World Health Organisation).
If you're looking to improve the readability and clarity of your health materials, check out the guidelines and tools listed below. These valuable resources can help ensure that your materials are accessible and easy to understand.
Make sure your text is written at a Grade 8 reading level or below to ensure it is easily understood by a wide audience. You can use the Health Literacy Editor, developed by the Sydney Health Literacy Lab, to assess and refine your content. This tool helps you simplify complex language, making your materials more accessible and effective for individuals with varying levels of health literacy.
Test for readability
The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The guide helps healthcare professionals evaluate the clarity and understandability of patient education materials. It provides a framework for assessing how well materials meet health literacy standards, ensuring they are accessible and easy to comprehend.
Make information clear and actionable
Adding icons helps to provide visual representations of information, making it easier for people to understand complex concepts. They break down language barriers, enhance memory retention, and improve comprehension, especially for individuals with low literacy levels or limited health knowledge. Icons can quickly convey important messages, making health information more accessible for a wider audience.
Add icons to written text
The Teach-Back Training Center is a resource designed to help healthcare providers effectively use the Teach-Back method. This method is aimed at ensuring patients understand important health information by asking them to explain it back in their own words. The website offers tools, training, and resources to help providers improve patient comprehension, enhance care outcomes, and promote better health literacy.