title: How to choose and develop written educational materials.
abstract: Education is a key component of comprehensive rehabilitation care because it helps promote clients'healthy behaviors and recovery from diseases and injuries or adaptation to chronic conditions. Choosing to use written, organization-based, commercially generated, and Internet-based educational materials is dependent on credibility, readability, and availability. If these materials are unsuitable or no appropriate information on a topic is available, the decision to adapt existing material or design new materials must be made. Recommendations for developing readable materials center on having a clear purpose for writing about a topic; listening to patients; presenting accurate information that reflects accepted, common practice; and using a clear writing style. The strategies presented in this article are intended to help nurses and other healthcare professionals choose or develop educational materials for patients and their family members.
authors.affiliation: University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA. l.pierce@utoledo.edu
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Pierce
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012046:Rehabilitation; D013664:Teaching Materials; D014956:Writing