There is no shortage of information developed in healthcare communications that’s intended to help health seekers understand their treatment and medication options. Unfortunately, health literacy statistics among patient groups strongly indicate these materials often miss the mark.
People are still confused, uncertain and overwhelmed when it comes to making important decisions regarding their treatment options. This process is further complicated by inaccessible information that relies on medical terms that mean nothing to them, in other words – jargon.
Have you ever looked up an unfamiliar word in a dictionary, only to find you also need to look up the words in the definition before you can understand the meaning of the original word? Sounds confusing, but this is what it can feel like when specialised knowledge is presented from an academic perspective. It leads to a lack of understanding and hesitancy in decision-making for the health seeker.
Every industry has its own jargon. But especially in healthcare, specialised language can be overwhelming to the average person for three reasons:
Information materials such as leaflets, brochures, apps and websites are created with the best of intentions, and help many people understand and manage complex conditions, deal with side effects, change damaging lifestyle habits and make intelligent health choices. But there are also many more who could be helped if health literacy was developed from health seekers’ perspectives.
Ideally, support materials should guide health seekers to perform everyday actions that help them manage and understand their illness. This information comes in many forms, such as:
All of this information can easily overload people if created without the health seeker in mind, making it almost impossible for them access to information that’s presented at a level they can understand. In complex or life-threatening conditions, this can prove detrimental to their health. Jargon-filled or complex materials can also lead to misunderstanding and low take-up of screening or other preventative services.
Using tools with a researched-backed, proven ability to cut through jargon, can help pharma to produce materials that are accessible to people with low health literacy. We often speak of ‘patient-centricity’ within an organisation, and it all starts with literacy from the health seeker’s perspective.
Done correctly, people become more engaged, more willing and able to change behaviours and become more open to clinical research studies as they approach all of these things from a better-informed point of view.
When we make it an organisational value to produce clear evidenced-based communication in all treatment and support materials, literacy improves, and health seekers benefit. There are huge opportunities for brands to reach out to health seekers, helping them make informed and confident decisions, and it all starts with a developing material that have health literacy in mind.
This blog was first published here: https://www.couchhealth.co/post/breaking-the-jargon-cycle-the-benefits-of-health-literacy-considerations
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