Finding Easy-to-Read and Multilingual Materials for Your Patrons An Infopeople Webinar December 1, 2008 Kelli Ham, Consumer Health Librarian.
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Transcript Finding Easy-to-Read and Multilingual Materials for Your Patrons An Infopeople Webinar December 1, 2008 Kelli Ham, Consumer Health Librarian.
Finding Easy-to-Read and
Multilingual Materials for Your Patrons
An Infopeople Webinar
December 1, 2008
Kelli Ham, Consumer Health Librarian
Agenda
Overview of issues surrounding health information
materials for lower literacy users
Easy-to-read information resources
Multilingual health information
Community assessment and partnerships
Objectives
Participants will be able to:
Recognize components of easy-to-read materials
Assess health information materials quickly for
readability and quality
Navigate to appropriate online easy-to-read and
multilingual resources
Identify community partners for innovative solutions
specific to your community
Easy-to-Read Materials
For our purposes today:
Easy-to-read indicates that the words, content, and
design are chosen specifically so that the material is
easier to read and understand by people who have
difficulties reading readily available materials.
Reading levels of health information:
Only a small percentage of readily-available health
information is truly written in plain language that is
easy-to-read.
Some of the Issues
What reading level is Easy-to-Read?
Most health materials are written at higher than
6th grade level
Who decides?
No broad standards for health-related materials
No standards exist; just recommendations
4th to 6th grade reading level
Digital divide limits access to many resources
Components of Easy-to-Read Materials
Plain language text without ambiguity
Pictures or illustrations:
Take one pill with your breakfast
Graphics aid in understanding
Typography
Serif-type fonts are easier to read
Times New Roman is a serif font; Lucida is not
Larger type (12-14 pt)
Design elements
Plenty of white space
Additional Elements
3 or 4 main concepts
Action verbs and concrete nouns
Visuals illustrate the action, tell the story
Limits use of jargon, abbreviations, symbols
Use short sentences and words with fewer syllables
Tested with target audience
At a Glance: Determining Readability Levels
Easier
Harder
Readable versus Understandability
Format of materials makes a difference
Text only is harder than text with pictures
Audio of text easier to understand for users
Videos and multimedia increase understanding
Involves multiple senses
Much more information transmitted through visual
demonstration
Better retention of information
Seeing Hearing Understanding
Easy-to-Read Materials in MedlinePlus
MedlinePlus points to quality resources from trusted
organizations on numerous health topics
The publishing organization determines if an item is
“easy-to-read”
The National Library of Medicine and MedlinePlus do
not make judgments as to reading levels
Thus, “easy-to-read” materials in MedlinePlus range in
readability levels
Navigating to Easy-to-Read Materials
The Health Topics page has a link to all
Easy-to-Read materials currently available
Finding All Easy-to-Read Materials
On main Health Topics Page:
Links to all Easy-to-Read and
Interactive Tutorials
Collection of Easy-to-Read Content
Individual Health Topic Pages
Look for Easy-to-Read designation
Interactive Tutorials in MedlinePlus
Over 165 tutorials on Diseases, Tests, Surgeries
and much more
Design of Interactive Tutorials
Easy to navigate
Multimedia design helps users understand
Short text content with audio on each slide
Good illustrations, some with animation
Quizzes help users check understanding
Good way to augment your circulating collection of
videos and dvds
Users may need help getting started
Starting the Tutorial
Click here
to start
Summary for
Printing
Influenza - Interactive Tutorial
Summary Page
Some of the
summaries
are easier
than others,
depending
on medical
terminology
and nature of
the topic
Surgery Videos
I’m having knee replacement surgery – what can I
expect?
Currently, 15 videos on different knee surgeries
Transcripts available for printing
From MedlinePlus.gov
homepage, click here
NIDDK Easy-to-Read Publications
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/
NIH Publications
Advanced Search in Google
publications “easy to read” site:nih.gov
Useful Tools: Guidelines for Writing Materials
“I’ll know it when I see it”
By learning how materials should be written, it is
easier to recognize appropriate materials for your
patrons.
Helpful in choosing online resources
Adds value to collection development efforts
Guidelines for Writing Easy-to-Read
Materials
How to Write Easy-to-Read Health Materials
On this page, you’ll find:
Step-by-step guidelines
Information and links to several readability
assessment tools, such as SMOG and Fry Graph
Links to software programs
Bibliographies and additional guidelines worthy of
mention
Language and Culture in Your Community
What are the unique characteristics in your
community?
Different communities, different needs
inner city – minorities, low income and other
vulnerable populations
farming community – rural, large immigrant
population
ethnic clusters in the community
Health Information in Other Languages
Issues for librarians and healthcare professionals
Need to know the content before recommending
Impossible to know, if you don’t speak the
language
Multilingual Resources in MedlinePlus
Robust collection of Spanish language materials
Recent addition of materials in 40 languages
Collection is small but growing
Follow same quality guidelines
To be included in Multiple Languages collection,
English translation is required
Languages content is available from Home Page and
individual Health Topic pages
Scenario
Library user:
“My father may need an angioplasty. He doesn’t read
English well; do you have any information in Arabic?”
General Search Strategies in MedlinePlus
2
3
1
Other Languages on Health Topic Pages
Other Languages on Health Topics – cont.
Advanced Searching with Key Words
Consumer Health Manual from NN/LM
nnlm.gov/outreach/consumer/
Health Information in Many Languages
Health Information in Many Languages: A Few
Resources Worthy of Mention
Polyglot Multimedia Medical Spanish Translator
Includes audio files so you can hear the translations
polyglot.topsailmultimedia.com/polyglot.html
Refugee Health - Immigrant Health
Includes cultural customs and beliefs regarding health issues
bearspace.baylor.edu/Charles_Kemp/www/refugee_health.htm
Ordering National Institute of Health Publications in
Languages Other Than English
Information for ordering NIH multilingual publications
nnlm.gov/mcr/resources/community/multilingualNIH.html
Spanish Language Translator for Health Terms
Your Favorite Sources for Health Information
Please share your sources for easy-to-read or
multilingual health materials
Online resources
Publishers of print materials
Health videos and DVDs
Other?
Determine Needs in Your Community
How do you know?
Education and literacy levels
Languages spoken
Census.gov for information on education levels,
languages spoken at home, and other data at the
county level
American FactFinder for county profiles
factfinder.census.gov/
Population and Household Economic data
census.gov/population/www/popdata.html
American
FactFinder
Education
Language
spoken at
home
Insights into Community Demographics
census.gov/population/www/socdemo/lang_use.html
Innovative Partnerships
County extension agents
they interact with farm workers
could talk about use of pesticides,
preventing wounds
Local environmental agencies
Air pollution control district can
provide speakers about air quality,
ozone, smoke from fires
Local literacy groups
Teach basic computer skills
For More Information
Infopeople Archived Webinars
Understanding Health Literacy
Communicating about Health
Covers more about literacy and health literacy issues, more
examples and information about problem when people can’t
read or understand health information
Practical guidelines for helping library users know what
questions to ask and how to communicate more effectively
with their healthcare providers
An In-Depth Look at MedlinePlus
Includes details on Spanish-language materials and all other
special content
Kelli Ham, MLIS, Consumer Health Coordinator
[email protected]
NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region
UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
nnlm.gov/psr