title: Education handouts. Are we wasting our time?
abstract: There is a mismatch between client reading level and the reading level of most health educational handouts. More than half of all Americans may be unable to read and understand health-related handouts given to them in a hospital or clinic. This can lead to noncompliance with treatment, missed appointments, taking the wrong dosage of medications, and unnecessary fear. Nurses can make handouts more user-friendly. The reading level can be changed so more patients can understand the materials, and the formatting of the handout can be modified to better serve all reading levels.
authors.affiliation: Adult Education Resource, Newark, Delaware, USA. kenbrownso@AOL.COM
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brownson
mesh_terms: D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011932:Reading; D013664:Teaching Materials / Q000592:standards*