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Having a patient participate in their own well-being is an important strategy in the management of diseases and medical conditions. One way of ensuring that clients take part in their own treatment is to adequately educate them about their illnesses. They need to know what it is that they are suffering from, how they got it and what role they have to play in the treatment process. The use of patient education handouts makes this possible with relative ease.
The design that is adopted is variable and is determined by many factors. Important determinants include, for example, the type of medical condition or disease, age and social status. All these aspects are important as they will affect both the message to be passed on and how to pass it on. You may need to design questionnaires to collect these important sets of data.
The materials that are used when communicating messages related to long term and terminal illnesses will differ from those that are used for short term illnesses. In the case of long term illnesses and endemic conditions reference is required over a long period of time. For acute illnesses, on the other hand, reference is required just for a short period of time.
In most cases, the social status is closely related to the level of education. Clients coming from low social economic backgrounds often have lower levels of education. The reverse is often true. By understanding the social status you will be better placed to craft a message that can be easily understood. Ensure that you avoid using too many technical terms and whenever possible provide simpler alternatives.
Apart from the choice of words, ensure that the message is brief and straight to the point. In the hospital setting where the main preoccupation is for one to get well and get back to work, long, convoluted statements may go unread by the majority. The easiest way is to design your handout in manner that there will be headings, subheadings and brief explanations below each subheading.
Pictures and illustrations are an important tool of communication and should be used whenever there is an opportunity. Their main benefits include the fact that they can communicate the message more precisely and make the reading more interesting. Choose pictures that are appropriate for your target audience. You may need to hire a medical illustrator for this task.
When the client reads the message just once they will most likely forget a significant part of it. Reinterpretation may also occur over a period of time. There are some strategies that can be used to overcome this challenge. For instance, the message can be incorporated into items that the client will require on a daily basis. These include bookmarks and calendars. They will read the message every time they wish to use any of these items.
The tools may be used to the benefit of the health facility through advertisement. Clients usually will not mind going through advertisements that have been printed as a footnote or alongside the main message. Information that may be passed in this manner includes details of services rendered at the facility, the cost, physical address and so on.
The design that is adopted is variable and is determined by many factors. Important determinants include, for example, the type of medical condition or disease, age and social status. All these aspects are important as they will affect both the message to be passed on and how to pass it on. You may need to design questionnaires to collect these important sets of data.
The materials that are used when communicating messages related to long term and terminal illnesses will differ from those that are used for short term illnesses. In the case of long term illnesses and endemic conditions reference is required over a long period of time. For acute illnesses, on the other hand, reference is required just for a short period of time.
In most cases, the social status is closely related to the level of education. Clients coming from low social economic backgrounds often have lower levels of education. The reverse is often true. By understanding the social status you will be better placed to craft a message that can be easily understood. Ensure that you avoid using too many technical terms and whenever possible provide simpler alternatives.
Apart from the choice of words, ensure that the message is brief and straight to the point. In the hospital setting where the main preoccupation is for one to get well and get back to work, long, convoluted statements may go unread by the majority. The easiest way is to design your handout in manner that there will be headings, subheadings and brief explanations below each subheading.
Pictures and illustrations are an important tool of communication and should be used whenever there is an opportunity. Their main benefits include the fact that they can communicate the message more precisely and make the reading more interesting. Choose pictures that are appropriate for your target audience. You may need to hire a medical illustrator for this task.
When the client reads the message just once they will most likely forget a significant part of it. Reinterpretation may also occur over a period of time. There are some strategies that can be used to overcome this challenge. For instance, the message can be incorporated into items that the client will require on a daily basis. These include bookmarks and calendars. They will read the message every time they wish to use any of these items.
The tools may be used to the benefit of the health facility through advertisement. Clients usually will not mind going through advertisements that have been printed as a footnote or alongside the main message. Information that may be passed in this manner includes details of services rendered at the facility, the cost, physical address and so on.
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