As a healthcare provider, I educate patients daily about various health issues. Each person learns and retains information using different methods, so I use all available tools to help patients understand their health and medical conditions. Here are some things I’ve found that impact patient engagement with the information.
Larger font
Older adults are the largest group utilizing health care. Like everyone else, older adults like to inform themselves regarding their health and medications. It makes sense then for information to be easy to read. Increasing font size is an easy method to ensure readability for older adults. A font of 12 is the minimum recommended size for ease of readability for adults over age 50. When font size is minimized to fit information on a single sheet or page, a large section of health consumers will need help to read the small font. Don’t exclude this vital demographic.
Length
There is a trend for longer articles and blog posts to rate better on searches. While these longer articles can provide a significant amount of information, most people don’t have the attention span to read a 2000-word essay. The average time spent on a website across any industry is 54 seconds, and the average blog post gets a miserly 37 seconds. These statistics indicate content needs to be brief, to the point, and easy to digest. When creating informational handouts for patients, 1-2 pages is plenty. In my experience, getting patients to read just the first page of their take-home instructions after an appointment, let alone a multi-page handout is a struggle.
Infographic
Infographics are a great way to educate patients. People like pictures, and pictures help to clarify complicated topics. Infographics provide short and sweet methods of consuming information that is typically easy to understand. Given the brief amount of time people spend reading articles, the infographic is an excellent method of summarizing the key points of the information.
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