Can good design treat a major health dilemma?
Image by Todd Coats
Healthcare
10.19.2009
Unfortunately the most at risk don't know it.
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy has found about 36 percent of adults - 87 million people - have ‘basic' or ‘below basic' health literacy skills. A few years earlier, the Journal of the American Medical Association released a study finding between 26 and 60 percent of hospitalized patients could not understand medication directions, standard consent forms or basic healthcare materials. How did we create such a divide?
The difficulty in understanding health terms has its roots in other recognized forms of literacy: 1) fundamental literacy, or reading; 2) scientific literacy; 3) civic literacy; and 4) cultural literacy.1 Whatever the root cause, health literacy causes poor communication between patients and providers, increasing the risk of medical error. It also reduces the success of treatments and results in less frequent screenings and disproportionately high rates of disease and mortality.2 All this bad health adds up to a whopper of a medical bill. Poor health literacy attributes to increased hospitalization rates, overuse of emergency rooms3 and lost productivity. This stresses our already overtaxed healthcare system and costs an estimated $106 to $236 billion annually.4 That's close to the annual income of the entire country of Mexico.
Do we need a major investment to help treat this issue? Not really. Just a deeper understanding of good design principles.
Adults with low literacy skills are more likely to get information from simple images, comparison infographics and uncluttered illustrations. Principles of good design help simplify complex information into easy-to-understand visual bits. Good, creative design thinking also allows for information to be tiered, helping the reader go deeper as his or her skill level permits. This is particularly important when explaining tests, treatments and medications.
But good design isn't exclusive to visuals. To effectively communicate, the oral and written words must be simple, jargon-free and clear. Experts recommend writing at around a fifth grade level. When I began following that advice, it felt like pandering. Now I realize the importance of the simplicity. High-dollar words like "antihypertensive" and "hypoglycemia" should be replaced with "blood pressure pill" and "low sugar." Instead of saying, "Take on an empty stomach," add clarity by saying "Take one hour before breakfast." Instead of "Let me know if you have questions," we say, "What questions do you have?"
From Conversations to Signage to Brochures to Websites
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services teach back program - in which patients tell providers in their own words what the providers have told them - was designed to bring public and physician attention to this issue. The program gives patients three questions to ask each time they talk to a doctor, nurse or pharmacist:
- What is my main problem?
- What do I need to do?
- Why is it important for me to do this?
At Capstrat, we and our clients spend a lot of time and money trying to improve the delivery of healthcare. And there's value in the sophisticated models, memes and themes we use in our work. But we should all keep sight of the most fundamental moment in a doctor-patient relationship - What's wrong with me and how can it be fixed? - and use our talents to make sure it always goes smoothly. After that, everything else gets a lot easier.
- Zarcadoolas et al. 2005, 2006
- (Baker et al. 1998; Berkman et al. 2004;Gordon et al. 2002; Lindau et al. 2001; Rudd et al. 1999;Williams et al. 2002).
- (Baker et al. 2004).
- Low Health Literacy: Implications for National Health Policy, John A. Vernon, PhD, Department of Finance, University of Connecticut
