Documents for patients

Documents for patients help people understand their condition, manage their care or weigh a health decision. The parts divide by purpose: education about a condition, procedure, treatment or self-care, and support for choosing between options in light of personal values. Study-specific information for trial participants, health reporting for a general readership, and the language, layout and risk-communication principles used across documents belong to neighbouring concerns.

• Patient education materials — the aims and boundaries of patient education, planning a sponsor’s programme, writing material patients understand and act on, and managing an organisation’s set of materials
• Patient decision aids — information and values clarification for a health choice, the decisions that call for an aid, standards, development with patients and professionals, implementation, evaluation and reporting