An Infopeople WebinarAn Infopeople WebinarDecember 1, 2008December 1, 2008

Kelli Ham, Consumer Health Kelli Ham, Consumer Health LibrarianLibrarian

Finding Easy-to-Read and Multilingual Materials for Your

Patrons

Agenda

Overview of issues surrounding health information materials for lower literacy users

Easy-to-read information resources

Multilingual health information

Community assessment and partnerships

Objectives

Participants will be able to: Recognize components of easy-to-read

materials Assess health information materials quickly

for readability and quality Navigate to appropriate online easy-to-

read and multilingual resources Identify community partners for innovative

solutions specific to your community

Easy-to-Read Materials

For our purposes today: Easy-to-read indicates that the words,

content, and design are chosen specifically so that the material is easier to read and understand by people who have difficulties reading readily available materials.

Reading levels of health information:

Only a small percentage of readily-available health information is truly written in plain language that is easy-to-read.

Some of the Issues What reading level is Easy-to-Read?

Most health materials are written at higher than 6th grade level

Who decides? No broad standards for health-related

materials No standards exist; just recommendations 4th to 6th grade reading level

Digital divide limits access to many resources

Components of Easy-to-Read Materials Plain language text without ambiguity

Take one pill with your breakfast Pictures or illustrations:

Graphics aid in understanding Typography

Serif-type fonts are easier to read Times New Roman is a serif font; Lucida is not

Larger type (12-14 pt) Design elements

Plenty of white space

Additional Elements

3 or 4 main concepts

Action verbs and concrete nouns

Visuals illustrate the action, tell the story

Limits use of jargon, abbreviations, symbols

Use short sentences and words with fewer

syllables

Tested with target audience

At a Glance: Determining Readability Levels

Easier Harder

Readable versus Understandability Format of materials makes a difference

Text only is harder than text with pictures Audio of text easier to understand for users Videos and multimedia increase

understanding Involves multiple senses

Much more information transmitted through visual demonstration

Better retention of information

Seeing Hearing Understanding

Easy-to-Read Materials in MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus points to quality resources from

trusted organizations on numerous health topics

The publishing organization determines if an

item is “easy-to-read”

The National Library of Medicine and

MedlinePlus do not make judgments as to

reading levels

Thus, “easy-to-read” materials in MedlinePlus

range in readability levels

Navigating to Easy-to-Read Materials

The Health Topics page has a link to all

Easy-to-Read materials currently

available

Finding All Easy-to-Read Materials

On main Health Topics Page:

Links to all Easy-to-Read and Interactive Tutorials

Collection of Easy-to-Read Content

Individual Health Topic Pages

Look for Easy-to-Read designation

Interactive Tutorials in MedlinePlus

Over 165 tutorials on Diseases, Tests, Surgeries and much more

Design of Interactive Tutorials

Easy to navigate Multimedia design helps users understand Short text content with audio on each slide

Good illustrations, some with animation Quizzes help users check understanding Good way to augment your circulating

collection of videos and dvds Users may need help getting started

Starting the Tutorial

Click here to start

Summary for Printing

Click here to start

Summary for Printing

Influenza - Interactive Tutorial

Summary Page

Some of the summaries are easier than others, depending on medical terminology and nature of the topic

Surgery Videos I’m having knee replacement surgery –

what can I expect? Currently, 15 videos on different knee

surgeries Transcripts available for printing

From MedlinePlus.gov homepage, click here

NIDDK Easy-to-Read Publications National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/

NIH Publications

Advanced Search in Google publications “easy to read”

site:nih.gov

Useful Tools: Guidelines for Writing Materials

“I’ll know it when I see it”

By learning how materials should be written, it is easier to recognize appropriate materials for your patrons.

Helpful in choosing online resources

Adds value to collection development efforts

Guidelines for Writing Easy-to-Read Materials

How to Write Easy-to-Read Health Materials

On this page, you’ll find:

Step-by-step guidelines

Information and links to several

readability assessment tools, such as

SMOG and Fry Graph

Links to software programs

Bibliographies and additional guidelines

worthy of mention

Language and Culture in Your Community

What are the unique characteristics in your community?

Different communities, different needs inner city – minorities, low income and

other vulnerable populations farming community – rural, large

immigrant population ethnic clusters in the community

Health Information in Other Languages

Issues for librarians and healthcare professionals Need to know the content before

recommending Impossible to know, if you don’t speak

the language

Multilingual Resources in MedlinePlus

Robust collection of Spanish language materials

Recent addition of materials in 40 languages

Collection is small but growing

Follow same quality guidelines

To be included in Multiple Languages collection,

English translation is required

Languages content is available from Home

Page and individual Health Topic pages

Scenario

Library user:

“My father may need an angioplasty. He doesn’t read English well; do you have any information in Arabic?”

General Search Strategies in MedlinePlus

1

2

3

Other Languages on Health Topic Pages

Other Languages on Health Topics – cont.

Advanced Searching with Key Words

Consumer Health Manual from NN/LM

nnlm.gov/outreach/consumer/

Health Information in Many Languages

Health Information in Many Languages: A Few Resources Worthy of Mention

Polyglot Multimedia Medical Spanish Translator Includes audio files so you can hear the translations polyglot.topsailmultimedia.com/polyglot.html

Refugee Health - Immigrant Health Includes cultural customs and beliefs regarding health issues bearspace.baylor.edu/Charles_Kemp/www/refugee_health.htm

Ordering National Institute of Health Publications in Languages Other Than English Information for ordering NIH multilingual publications nnlm.gov/mcr/resources/community/multilingualNIH.html

Spanish Language Translator for Health Terms

Your Favorite Sources for Health Information Please share your sources for easy-to-

read or multilingual health materials Online resources Publishers of print materials Health videos and DVDs Other?

Determine Needs in Your Community How do you know?

Education and literacy levels Languages spoken

Census.gov for information on education levels, languages spoken at home, and other data at the county level American FactFinder for county profiles

factfinder.census.gov/ Population and Household Economic data

census.gov/population/www/popdata.html

American FactFinder

Education

Language spoken at home

Insights into Community Demographics

census.gov/population/www/socdemo/lang_use.html

Innovative Partnerships

County extension agents they interact with farm

workers could talk about use of

pesticides, preventing wounds Local environmental agencies

Air pollution control district can provide speakers about air quality, ozone, smoke from fires

Local literacy groups Teach basic computer skills

For More Information Infopeople Archived Webinars

Understanding Health Literacy Covers more about literacy and health literacy

issues, more examples and information about problem when people can’t read or understand health information

Communicating about Health Practical guidelines for helping library users know

what questions to ask and how to communicate more effectively with their healthcare providers

An In-Depth Look at MedlinePlus Includes details on Spanish-language materials and

all other special content

Kelli Ham, MLIS, Consumer Health Coordinatorkkham@library.ucla.edu

NN/LM Pacific Southwest RegionUCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library

nnlm.gov/psr