How to choose and develop written educational materials.
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.
Pierce
Linda L
LL
University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA. l.pierce@utoledo.edu
D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012046:Rehabilitation; D013664:Teaching Materials; D014956:Writing