Evaluation of quality and readability of health education materials in Anhui Province from nurses' perspectives

Abstract

Objective To investigate the readability evaluation of the printed health education materials by working nurses, to understand the perception of readability of health education materials and to lay the basis for future research on readability evaluation. Methods In July 2017, 310 students from 147 hospitals (secondary and above) from all over Anhui Province were trained at Anhui Medical University. This study utilized the first stage of this training opportunity (July 3-14, 2017) to conduct an investigation of all participants. Surveys were conducted using a general survey, a printed health education material quality questionnaire, and a readability perception questionnaire. A total of 310 questionnaires were distributed in this study, and 283 valid questionnaires were returned. The effective response rate was 91.3%. Results The results of the readability evaluation of the printed health education materials showed that 36 participants reported that there were no health education resources for the patients in their departments. 247 participants reported that they provided printed health education materials in their departments, 56.7% of them believed that the health education materials of their departments had many medical terminologies, 53.8% thought that the key information was not summarized or emphasized, and 61.9% thought that the content was old. Compared with the tertiary hospitals, the nurses working in the secondary hospitals thought that the health education materials in their hospitals had too many medical and old content, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The results of the evaluation of the application of health education materials showed that 247 clinical nurses reported that the existing health education materials were mainly obtained from the following channels, of which 64.8% were self-designed, 79.4% were from external institutions, and 68.4% were from online resources. Compared with the nurses in the tertiary hospitals, the nurses in the secondary hospitals reported more of the fact that their departments provided the same health education materials to patients with different stages, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) ; Regarding the perception of readability, 48.8% of the participants had heard of the concept of readability; 94.7% considered it necessary to assess the readability of health education materials; but only 20.5% understand the readability assessment method and have readability evaluation ability. Conclusions At present, the health education materials used in clinical practice have to be improved in terms of readability and application methods, but the ability to evaluate readability is low. Developers of clinical education materials should pay attention to the readability evaluation of materials, learn from the methods and experience of foreign readability research, actively explore the evaluation methods suitable for the readability of health education materials in China, and improve the material based on the readability evaluation results. Hospital administrators should also strengthen the training of first-line health education nurses, improve their ability to assess the readability of health education materials and optimize the health education outcomes. Key words: Nurses; Printed education materials; Readability; Assessment