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Patient Education & Health Literacy: Plain and Clear Writing

Patient Education & Health Literacy resources

Writing for patient education

Before-and-After examples (plainlanguage.gov)
Checklist for Plain Language
Checklist for Plain Language on the Web
Design Easy-to-Read Material
Guidelines for Creating Materials
Guidelines for Re-Writing Materials
Health Communications: Improving Readability by Design
How to write easy-to-read health materials
Icon Array: make risk understandable
In Plain Words: Creating Easy-To-Read Handouts
Patient Education - Document Design - Purdue OWL
Patient Education - Organization and Style - Purdue OWL
Patient Education Materials - Purdue OWL
Plain English at a Glance
Plainlanguage.gov
Planning Easy-to-Read Materials
Simply Put: a guide for creating easy-to-understand materials (CDC)
Toolkit for Making Written Material Clear and Effective
Writing Easy-to-Read Materials
Writing Tips

Vocabulary & Synonyms

Everyday Words for Public Health Communication
Medical Terms in Lay Language (University of Iowa)
Plain Language Thesaurus for Health Communication
University of Michigan Plain Language Dictionary

Checking for Reading Level & Readability

Guidelines for Assessing Materials
Guidelines for Easy-to-Read Materials
The Health Literacy Style Manual
The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) and User’s Guide
A Plain-Language Checklist for Reviewing Your Document
Readability Test Tool