Informing Patients – an Assessment of the Quality of Patient Information Materials

Every one agrees that it is important to educate patients, and patient informational materials are key to doing so. However, there is now a flood of these materials available from diverse sources. How can one judge which are of sufficient quality to incorporate into practise? This book provides a framework with which one can assess the quality of patient information materials; and more importantly, provides valuable guidelines for improving the quality of new patient informational materials being developed. The first part of this book focuses on why educating patients is important, and concludes by emphasizing the fact that informing patients is a function which most doctors perform very poorly in the UK at present. This is a criticism which would be applicable to most doctors all over the world – and is a shame, because we are losing a major opportunity in helping our patients to take better care of themselves. Although patients are anxious to be better informed and to play a more active role in their own care, they aren’t always sophisticated enough to be able to judge which informational materials are credible, so there’s potential for them to be misinformed. By working to ensure that patients are well-informed, we will not only be helping them, but also be promoting practise, as well as reducing the risk of malpractice. Remember that the word doctor is derived from ‘docere’– to teach, something we often lose sight of. However, whilst patient education materials can be extremely useful timesaving tools, they can be ineffective or even counterproductive if they confuse the patient or contradict professional advice. Consequently, it is important to evaluate the patient informational materials incorporated into practise. This is something most of us still do not know how to do. The second part of the book presents the results of an original study which used focus groups (involving both patients and doctors) to evaluate over 54 patient informational materials (including leaflets, videos and audio-tapes) available in the UK today, on 10 common conditions – including back pain, cataract, depression and infertility. The lessons learnt from this study have been distilled into an excellent list of 23 guidelines, which are invaluable for anyone developing new patient informational materials, and it would be a shame if producers of patient educational materials continue to ignore the shortcoming of the materials available today. These guidelines cover both the process of developing new patient information materials, as well as their content, and should be widely disseminated, so that we can produce more effective materials for the future – tailored to what our patients want and need. Some of the guidelines are simple common-sense (such as: include the publication date; develop a strategy for distribution; and publicise the availability of the materials), but others need to be repeatedly reinforced – such as the need to use patients’ questions as the starting point for developing new materials; and to include checklists and questions to ask the doctor. A major shortcoming of the book is that copies of some of the patient informational materials reviewed by the focus groups have not been included. This is a shame, because it does not allow the reader to use his own judgement to critically evaluate the materials, so that he can compare his opinion with the focus groups’ findings. This could have been a valuable exercise in honing the reader’s critical skills. An additional chapter on how to actually use the patient informational materials in a clinical encounter would also have been helpful. Remember that just choosing good patient information materials is not enough – it is equally important to use it well – after all, patient education is a supplement to direct communication, not a substitute. How and when a patient education handout is presented to a patient will affect what the patient learns from it. For example, it’s important to present the leaflet to the patient oneself, if possible and to emphasize its importance – personal professional endorsement of the material is powerful! After reading this book, I would strongly suggest that the guidelines it offers are adhered to, and the development of a patient education handout – tailored to your own practise – your patients will be grateful!