American Academy of Ophthalmology redesigns patient education materials to improve literacy standards

Low literacy rates contribute to poor patient compliance, leading to increased hospitalizations and chronic illness and costing the economy between $106 – $238 billion each year. To help address this issue within eye health, the American Academy of Ophthalmology has redesigned its patient education materials to enhance patient readability and understanding. The materials are being launched at AAO 2014, the Academy's 118^th annual meeting in Chicago this week.

Traditionally, most patient education materials are written at or above a 10^th grade reading level, yet nearly half of U.S. adults have trouble understanding and acting on information that is written above an 8^th grade level, and only 12 percent have proficient health literacy. The Academy's new patient education materials meet the health literacy standards used by the Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and National Institutes of Health, which require materials to be between 5^th and 8^th grade reading levels. In addition to this plain language overhaul, the text font used is specifically designed for readers with low vision. The collection includes brochures, booklets and downloadable handouts that cover the entire spectrum of eye health. Many of these materials are also available in Spanish.

"Physicians understand that medical information can be very overwhelming for patients and they forget most of what you tell them during a consultation," said Devin Harrison, M.D., an ophthalmologist and chair of the Academy's Patient Education Committee. "Patients who have a better understanding of their medical condition and rationale for treatment are more likely to comply with the treatment. By reaching them on a level that is easy to grasp, we can better manage patient expectations and improve clinical outcomes."

This is the latest in the Academy's efforts to help physicians increase patient compliance through a suite of materials designed to support a stronger, simplified, and more standardized patient education and informed consent process. The Academy has also recently developed a collection of informed consent videos focusing on retina-related conditions and procedures to help educate and inform patients. Research has shown that video-based informed consent processes are more effective in building patient comprehension than the traditional method of verbal informed consent.

The entire new line of patient education materials, as well as the collection of retina-related informed consent videos, is available for purchase on the Academy's website at http://www.aao.org/store. Both sets of educational materials were developed in consultation with the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company.

SOURCE American Academy of Ophthalmology