Creating an Effective Health Handout
Hello All, Thank you to all who attended the “Creating an Effective Health Handout” webinar on Oct. 10, 2012. I hope I was able to provide you with a few useful tips and ideas to get you started developing your own plain language handouts. If you were unable to attend, here is the link to the recording: https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p38354820
Here are some of the resources I included in my presentation:
- Plain Language
- “Health Literacy Online: A Guide to Writing and Designing Easy-to-Use Health Web Sites” (U.S. Dept. HHS)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Simply Put
- MaineHealth Patient Materials Guidelines
- Lipton, Ronnie. (2005). The practical guide to information design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (a book focusing on communicating effectively through graphic design)
At our next session on December 12, 2012, attendees are welcome to share handouts they have made for people with low literacy. If you plan to submit a handout, get it to Michelle Eberle by Dec. 3.
Let Michelle know ASAP if you would like to be paired up with a partner to work on a handout. One idea could be to take the hand hygiene handout found here
http://www.getreadyforflu.org/facts/HandwashingNH.pdf and redesign it using the principles of plain language and clear document design.
Please e-mail me at clarkd@wmhcc.org if you have any questions about concepts discussed during the presentation.
As someone asked during the program about Sue Stableford’s Summer Health Literacy Institute, here is the link. http://www.healthliteracyinstitute.net/ I am told the information about the 2013 session will be posted in a week or two.
Good luck with your handouts. See you Dec. 12.
Deborah A. Clark, MLIS, AHIP
Librarian, Stephens Memorial Hospital
Norway, Maine
