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Readability of user leaflets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Harriet Humfress  and
Ulrike Schmidt
Harriet Humfress*
Affiliation:
Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
Ulrike Schmidt
Affiliation:
Bethlem & Maudsley NHS Trust PACT Team, London
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Aims and method

Leaflets are commonly used as a way of providing information to users. In this study, we use a simple index of ‘readability’ to compare a range of leaflets available to people with mental health problems.

Results

The majority of the leaflets contained passages that are likely to be beyond the comprehension of people with mental health problems.

Clinical implications

Leaflets are a cost-effective way of providing information, but only if the text can be understood by the target audience.

Type
Original papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , May 1999 , pp. 272 - 276
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Albert, T. & Chadwick, S. (1992) How readable are practice leaflets? British Medical Journal 305, 1266 1268.Google Scholar
Henessy, B. (1989) Writing Feature Articles. Oxford: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Peterson, T. (1994) How readable are the hospital information leaflets available to elderly patients? Age and Ageing, 23, 14 16.Google Scholar
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