Using Visual Aids to Supplement Medical Instructions, Health Education, and Medical Device Instructions

Abstract

Objective: To review the effects of visual aids on adherence, comprehension, and recall when used to supplement written or spoken information in medical instructions, health education, and medical device instructions and the effects on patients with low literacy levels. Method: Review of studies from medical instructions, health education, and medical device instructions to measure adherence, comprehension, and recall of written or spoken instructions, with or without visual aids. Results: The addition of visual aids to written or spoken instructions can positively impact adherence, comprehension, and recall, which can lead to better patient outcomes. Simpler, larger, quantitative, regional, and reinforcing visual aids provided the largest improvements, especially with patients with low literacy.