Tag: health

Amplifying Written Communications to Improve Health Literacy

Health information plays a critical role, whether a patient is preparing for surgery or trying to understand how a new medicine works. If the instruction manual lack precise and clear content, it could lead to adverse results, causing added hospital visits and medical bills.

Studies reveal that patients with a low health literacy often had to stay back in hospital more and some of them had to revisit emergency department. On the other hand, patients who can understand the discharge and post care instructions are less likely to visit the emergency department or get re-admitted.

What is health literacy?

Health literacy is the level or degree of an individual’s ability to read, understand and then use the information or services provided, in order to inform decisions that are health related for the individual or others. The job role of a healthcare/ medical writer is to ensure that the health information is easy to access for the end users.

How to improve readability in patient education materials?

Organizing information: Always start with the relevant context. A lot of patients ands their families tend to read just the first few sentences on any reading material. Therefore, the writer needs to put ‘need to know’ information at the top. This also promotes reader engagement.

Use active voice: The tone should be simple and instructive. Tell the reader what and how things are done. Avoid unnecessary details. Keep short and simple sentences with no more than 20 words. Explain new concepts and words. Try to add examples.

Avoid using numbers and percentages: Don’t fill the document with statistical information as it doesn’t help the patients to understand post care instructions. Numbers can complicate the documentation for them.

Keep a simple layout: There should be a lot of blank space, wide margins in order to have enough space between paragraphs. A bulleted list can help in breaking up information blocks, especially if there are lists of food or medications that the patient needs to avoid before or after surgery. Maintain font sizes and other styles in the document. Keep the font size at least 12.

Avoid medical jargon: Writers and marketers need to understand the importance of patient materials for the end users. They should use plain language and terminology that most patients can understand.

Maintain accuracy: Writers should know that the information they are providing is critical to someone’s health. They should base their research and use information from trusted medical sources and check if there are clinical review methods with results before they information is shared to patients.

All You Need to Know About Pacemakers

What is a pacemaker?

A pacemaker is a battery powered, small device that is implanted in the chest that prevents the heart from beating too slow or irregularly. It sends painless electrical pulses to stimulate the heart muscle when it is required.

The most common use of this device is when a person’s heart beats too slowly or it pauses. This can cause shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting. Pacemakers also help the heart chambers beat in sync, improving blood flow if the heart isn’t pumping enough blood.

Who needs it?

Patients who have been diagnosed with heart rhythm disorder or arrhythmia are prescribed to have pacemakers.

How does it work?

Pacemaker can:

  • Help speed up a slow heart rhythm (bradycardia)
  • Stabilize irregular heartbeats (atrial fibrillation)
  • Slow down rapidly beating heart (tachycardia)
  • Support the heart to pump blood as it should under normal conditions
  • Coordinates heartbeats between all the heart’s chambers

A doctor can run several tests to determine if the patient needs a pacemaker. Depending on the condition, the patient will be prescribed an electrocardiogram to measure the heart’s electrical activity, an echocardiogram to use sound waves for producing images to see the heart’s structure, size and motion, or Holter monitoring to track the heart’s rhythm through a small de ice that the patient has to wear.

The surgery

A pacemaker surgery normally lasts from one to two hours. The patient is given a mild sedative and stays awake during the procedure. Once the upper chest is numbed, an incision of two or three inches is made near the collarbone in order to gain access to a large vein. After this, a small pocket between the shoulder and chest is created in the skin and the pulse generator is inserted.

Through the large vein, the leads are connected to the pulse generator and these are attached to the heart’s surface with electrodes. The electrodes pick up natural electric signals of the heart. If the heartbeat is abnormal, the pulse generator will send a programmed pulse to the heart muscle, aiding in normalizing the situation.

The surgery has become quite regular and is more like a one-day procedure. The patient is asked to arrive in the morning and is sent home by late afternoon. While pacemakers are mostly safe, there are rare circumstances when complications can occur. These are excessive bleeding, infection, a punctured lung, a tear in the heart or even a blood clot.

Post surgery

A post-op checkup is scheduled after few weeks of rest and healing. After that the patient will have scheduled appointments in every three to six months and then only once in a year. These checkups are to make sure that the patient’s heart and the pacemaker are functioning properly. It is also checked if the battery is well charged.