Key takeaways in this post about health literacy and patient education:

  • Patients with better health literacy experience shorter hospital stays and fewer emergency visits.
  • Focus on making health information easy to find, understand, and use. Avoid jargon, keep language consistent, and prioritize critical information to enhance patient comprehension.
  • Different people learn in different ways. Offering patient information through various formats like videos, infographics, and simple text can help reach and educate a broader audience.


Author: WG Content
Last updated: 10/22/22

Whether a patient is preparing for surgery or following instructions for a new medicine, understanding health information is critical to that patient’s well-being. If instructions are not clear, it could mean unnecessary hospital visits and additional medical care and expense.

Patients with lower health literacy were more likely to have longer hospital stays and a higher revisits to the emergency department, according to a recent study published in the National Library of Medicine.

Additionally, other research indicates that patients who understand their discharge instructions are 30 percent less likely to be re-admitted or visit the emergency room after their procedure.

What is health literacy?

Personal health literacy, according to the CDC, is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. Health literacy is connected to health equity, or the ability for all people to attain the highest level of health.

The CDC updated the definition of health literacy in August of 2020, adding these helpful guidelines:

  • Emphasize people’s ability to use health information rather than just understand it
  • Focus on the ability to make “well-informed” decisions rather than “appropriate” ones
  • Acknowledge that organizations have a responsibility to address health literacy
  • Incorporate a public health perspective

As healthcare writers and marketers, it’s our job to make sure that health information is as easy to “find, understand and use” as possible.

9 tips for improving health literacy in patient education materials

What can you do to improve readability and understanding in patient education materials? Here are some tips:

1. Important information should come first

Many people may only read the first couple of words or sentences on a webpage or handout. It’s important they get the critical information they need before moving on. Listing the important information at the top can also draw the reader in and keep them engaged.

2. Focus on actions

Use active voice. Tell the patient what to do and how to do it. Don’t bog them down with unnecessary details.

3. Avoid statistics

Loading a document with numbers and percentages isn’t going to help patients understand how to take care of their wound after surgery, or how they should prepare for their procedure. Statistics can bury critical information and make a document seem complicated.

4. Keep paragraphs and sentences short

Avoid compound sentences and details the patient doesn’t need to know. Keeping the content short makes it easier to digest and less overwhelming.

5. Use lists and bullet points

Lists draw attention and help readers process information quickly. If you have a list of important foods or medications a patient should avoid before surgery, a bulleted list can help a reader find the information without sorting through multiple paragraphs

6. Ditch the medical jargon

As marketers, we know the importance of writing for our audience. Keep that in mind when crafting patient materials. Use plain language and terminology the average patient or reader will understand and relate to. The general rule of thumb is to aim for a 5th-8th grade reading level.

Learn more about accessible language and why it matters.

7. Keep terminology and language consistent

Your patient information should follow one style guide. Inconsistent style (such as using two different terms for one procedure) can confuse readers and make the information harder to understand.

8. Share content in different formats

Each person learns differently; some of us are visual learners, while others may prefer to read or hear instructions. Try presenting your content in multiple formats, such as videos and infographics. This may help you reach and educate a wider patient audience.

9. Make sure the content is accurate

Remember, someone’s health and well-being may depend on the information you provide. Use reputable medical sources to verify your information, and make sure there is a clinical review process before the information is available to patients. If possible, include information at the bottom of the document noting when the information was last reviewed

Get a content partner that understands health literacy

These tips are a good place to start, and the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion offers even more information on health literacy for online publications. You can also check out the National Institutes of Health free plain language training online or its Clear and Simple guide for communicating effectively with people with limited health literacy skills. The WG Content team is well-versed in health literacy and plain language and will help ensure your patient education inform with clear communication. Drop us a line anytime to learn more.

Follow-up questions about health literacy and patient education

Healthcare organizations can improve health literacy by creating patient materials that are easy to read and understand, training staff on effective communication strategies and using plain language in all patient interactions. Additionally, they can provide resources in multiple languages and formats to meet the diverse needs of their patient population

Videos and graphics are two popular ways to share patient education. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and its health literacy toolkit, “Even if your materials are written at the recommended grade level, some adults will not be able to read them. Ask your patients how they like to get health information. For example, patients with sight loss may prefer large print or braille materials. Patients may prefer audio and video resources. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients may prefer videos with closed captions or sign language.”

There are numerous readability formulas out there, including the long-established Flesch-Kincaid, SMOG and Gunning Fog. At WG Content, we use Readable, which uses every notable readability algorithm used today. Readable also offers advice on how to choose the right readability formula.

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