Physiotherapy Health Education Literature

Abstract

This paper describes a survey of the reading levels and design of leaflets distributed by a physiotherapy service. Physiotherapists design health education leaflets to inform patients and reinforce recommendations made in a session of therapy. The effectiveness of these leaflets depends largely on whether patients can read and understand them. A questionnaire survey in physiotherapy departments spanning two National Health Service trusts in Southampton showed that while physiotherapists were generally happy with the accuracy of their leaflets, they were less satisfied with their appearance. An analysis using Gunning's Fog Index Formula demonstrated that only 33% of the leaflets were written at or below the recommended reading level for health education literature, ie grade 9. The average reading level of the leaflets was grade 10. The survey underlines the need for physiotherapists to review the health information literature they are giving to patients. If they want patients to use it to inform and motivate themselves and to change health behaviours, then the written information must be attractive, readable and easy to understand. Suggestions are made for improving the quality and readability of leaflets. This paper describes a survey of the reading levels and design of leaflets distributed by a physiotherapy service. Physiotherapists design health education leaflets to inform patients and reinforce recommendations made in a session of therapy. The effectiveness of these leaflets depends largely on whether patients can read and understand them. A questionnaire survey in physiotherapy departments spanning two National Health Service trusts in Southampton showed that while physiotherapists were generally happy with the accuracy of their leaflets, they were less satisfied with their appearance. An analysis using Gunning's Fog Index Formula demonstrated that only 33% of the leaflets were written at or below the recommended reading level for health education literature, ie grade 9. The average reading level of the leaflets was grade 10. The survey underlines the need for physiotherapists to review the health information literature they are giving to patients. If they want patients to use it to inform and motivate themselves and to change health behaviours, then the written information must be attractive, readable and easy to understand. Suggestions are made for improving the quality and readability of leaflets.