Children could be recruited to help write patient information leaflets, doctors say today.
Children may do the job better than adults because the average reading age of patients is just nine – and current leaflets are pitched to patients with A level reading abilities, according to a report in The BMJ.
The suggestion is one of the latest in the quirky Christmas edition of the journal – and has been tested on schoolchildren in Coventry, UK.
After a lesson on total hip arthroplasty, children came up with phrases such as “your hip is old and rotten” and “it is past its sell-by date.”
The children also came up with “intelligent and informative” illustrations, according to Dr Catrin Wigley and her fellow researchers at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
They write: “Enlisting children to help formulate these leaflets may seem like an amusing whimsical quip. However, our experience has shown us that the child can become the tutor, teaching us the value in simple relevant communication.”
* Other findings in the journal suggest that sexual health advice is best access through a laptop computer rather than a smartphone. Google on-line searches gave the most accurate information, according to Professor Nick Wilson, from Wellington, New Zealand.
* Pet ownership has been credited with improving health – but may not improve longevity, according to an observational analysis by Professor Richard Watt, of University College London, UK.
* Wine glasses have increased in size by seven times in the last 300 years, according to Professor Theresa Marteau, from Cambridge University, UK.
Santa’s little helpers: a novel approach to developing patient information leaflets BMJ 14 December 2017 [abstract]
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