Getting doctors to use plain language and other ways to improve patient understanding
Health professionals have the challenging job of translating the jargon they learned in professional school to everyday language that people can understand. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has help in the form of the AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, Second Edition.
Donald Trump, plain language and some huuuuuge implications
No, my headline isn’t just click-bait. This piece really is about Donald Trump.
People in the plain language community have been watching this presidential candidate closely. Specifically, the way he speaks.
It’s been noted that Trump communicates at a lower reading grade level than other candidates. Trump speaks to voters at about a 4th grade reading level. By comparison, Jeb Bush and Hilary Clinton come in around an 8th grade level. Bernie Sanders is at the High School level.
Unite with clarity champions at the ClearMark Awards
I’ll never forget my first ClearMark Awards.
My business partner, Deanna, and I had travelled to D.C. to attend the 2012 Clarity Conference and decided to stay for the Awards. As writers and clarity experts, we looked forward to learning more and seeing the best new work coming out of the plain language world. But after attending countless conferences and awards ceremonies, I had modest expectations.
Study finds plain language makes court forms more user-friendly
Jury duty, though sometimes an inconvenient chore, is at the core of the American justice system. Because jury pools draw from all walks of life, they are generally representative of the diverse American public. As such, jury pools are also an excellent testing ground for readability studies.
What Google’s content guidelines mean for plain language content creators
If you’re reading this post, you already know what plain language is. Simple vocabulary. Short paragraphs. Short sentences. And you know your customers want you to speak in plain language, because it’s the best way you can communicate what your organization does to them.
But do you know that mastering your plain language skills will help your website get more traffic through search engines such as Google?
The Power of “You”: Using the Plain and the Personal to Engage Patients
“Patient engagement” has become a buzzword in health care, and for good reason. For anyone whose job it is to get patients to act—to take their medicines, to come in for their A1c test, to change their diet, to make a decision—finding ways to engage those patients in their health is a must.
Top 10 Plain Language Resolutions for 2016
Start your year off right – with new goals and commitments to make communication clearer. Here’s resolution #5: “Write less, get read more. The stats are clear. People are busy. We all want info as quickly and as clear as possible.”
CDC’s Everyday Words from Idea to Reality
I assume all plain language experts who teach, edit, and review have confronted that exasperated sigh from a colleague: So you don’t like the word I’m using. What do you want me to use instead? This question often comes with an eye roll, grimace, or note of panic because of an approaching deadline.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of the Associate Director for Communication published Everyday Words for Public Health Communication in November 2015. It is Version 1 of plain language suggestions – not mandates – to answer that “what instead” question. This blog is the story of how the document came to be.
An Rx for plain language
What if the universal precautions approach to health literacy really were universal?
Modeled after medicine’s universal precautions approach to infection control that treats all bodily fluids as they were infectious, this health literacy strategy is well accepted as one that improves communication: Assume it’s hard for all patients to understand health information and to use the health care system.
Empathy: The Forgotten Element in Successful Plain Language Communication
“People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind.” This quote by William Butler Yeats,
H&R Block’s war on taxpayers
The average taxpayer spends little or no time thinking about what goes on in Washington, especially when what’s going on involves complex discussions about tax code. A more boring topic there isn’t. So why should anyone pay attention?
Because when taxpayers don’t pay attention, something like this happens:
H&R Block’s Push to Make Tax Forms Harder for Low-Income People
Tax preparers stand to benefit from the change the company promoted.
Is Government writing growing more plain?
The grades say it is…mostly.
As we do every year, the Center reviewed agencies’ plain language programs and some writing samples for the annual Federal Report Card, released today, November 17. Representative Dave Loebsack announced the results.