Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Grene, M., Cleary, Y, and Marcus-Quinn, A.
2017
December
Ieee Transactions On Professional Communication
Use of Plain-Language Guidelines to Promote Health Literacy
Published
()
Optional Fields
60
4
384
400
Studies by the American Institute of Medicine and the European Health Literacy Survey describe considerable levels of either inadequate or problematic health literacy. This health literacy problem is intensified when frontline healthcare practitioners must rely on printed education materials to compensate for the lack of time to instruct patients about their health management. Applying plain-language guidelines to health promotion materials may increase their effectiveness, particularly for patients with low health literacy. Research questions: 1. In what ways have plain-language guidelines been applied in health information materials for patients with varying degrees of health literacy, according to recent studies? 2. Have studies found that materials that apply plain-language guidelines are effective in health information promotion? Methodology: This article presents the findings from an integrative literature review of research into the use of plain language to promote health literacy. The systematic review identified scholarly, evidence-based studies that included reference to the use of plain-language guidelines. This article describes the detailed selection process and characterizes the corpus of articles along four dimensions: objectives, methodology, plain-language guidelines used, and findings. Results and conclusions: The review identified 13 articles that explored the use of plain-language guidelines in health literacy promotion. Analysis of these articles demonstrates that plain-language guidelines could play a strategic role in educating patients. Use of plain language could help healthcare practitioners to communicate critical and sometimes very complex health information effectively.
IEEE
10.1109/TPC.2017.2761578
Grant Details