Intro by Vicky Sherwood
Medical Writing is an umbrella term that offers diverse career opportunities for professionals working with pharmaceutical and healthcare clients, such as Regulatory or Medical Communications (MedComms) medical writing.
Plain Language writing forms part of the large variety of work offered in MedComms. Watch this explainer to learn more about what MedComms is.
As a seasoned scientific writing professional myself, I find plain language writing really tricky. Suddenly you’re tasked with having to balance accuracy with simplicity, and removal of the medical jargon you’re used to relying on, without too much oversimplification. It can be challenging to strike the right balance.
In this guest post, Brenda Kennedy Sellers explains more about plain language as an important and impactful tool to help patients (and indeed healthcare professionals [HCPs]) understand and utilise medical information, by simplifying complex medical concepts. She also offers insights into how medical writers (MWs) like me who are looking to improve their plain language writing, can help to provide clearer communications.
Guest post by Brenda Kennedy Sellers
What is plain language?
Plain language is exactly that, simple, everyday language. It’s a communications style and approach that aims to present information in a clear, straightforward and easily understandable way. Communication is a two-way interaction with a common language requiring understanding AND THE ABILITY TO UTILIZE THE INFORMATION!
A common misconception is that plain language simplifies content to the point of being condescending or overly simplistic. However, plain language is about clarity, not oversimplification. As Jared Dashevsky (Aha Media) says, “plain language isn’t about being plain or boring. It’s about being clear.”
This need for clarity is especially important in healthcare where communication gaps often arise between providers and patients.
The communication gap in clinical settings exists in healthcare, with providers providing information in “med-speak” (medical jargon) and a lack of understanding of their patients’ levels of basic health literacy. Health literacy is the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and use it to make appropriate health decisions.
Medical information should be broken down from complex clinical terminology and concepts into a more understandable way for the patient, their carers and the general public. For example, the medical term hypertension can be explained in plain language as high blood pressure. Plain language prioritises the needs of the patient, ensuring that information is understood and actionable.
And it’s important. Clear and consist information can make huge differences in patient outcomes. For example, the difference between a patient following their treatment plan or getting confused and potentially failing.
The communication gap and its impact
One of the largest barriers to healthcare communications is the language used HCPs and the level of understanding amongst their patients. HCPs can use technical terms, sometimes assuming patients understand complex medical concepts. Increasing time constraints on HCPs, exacerbates this problem too.
In the United States, 9 out of 10 patients are considered health illiterate which has nothing to do with socio-economic levels, age, gender, or formal education. This illiteracy leads to a patient’s struggle to understand and apply health information effectively.
This issue is connected to the way patients receive health information, which is often fragmented. Often, patients’ understanding is impacted by receiving their health information in fragmented pieces from “word of mouth”, TV and other advertisements, internet searches, and non-medical opinions. This can result in a patient’s baseline health information that is incomplete, out of context, or misleading, leaving patients ill-equipped to make informed decisions about their health.
The realistic barriers that contribute to this gap include:
1. For HCPs
- HCP time restraints
- Overuse of Medical Jargon (med-speak)
- Limited awareness of health literacy among patients
2. For Patients
- Fragment Information sources and misinformation
- Lack of context increases patients’ struggle to connect isolated pieces of information into a cohesive understanding.
The role of plain language and medical writers (MWs)
Plain language in healthcare communication is the solution to this communication gap. By simplifying complex concepts into clear and patient-friendly terms, MWs can use their unique skill set in scientific communications to help bridge the gap between clear information and med-speak. They can also play a role in providing accessible information in multi-media formats to build a health literacy base, for patients who seek their information through varied sources.
Key principles of plain language:
- Using everyday word alternatives to complex medical jargon
- Breaking concepts into smaller pieces of digestible information
- Incorporate visual aids such as infographics
- Ask for patients’ feedback on writing materials and adjust accordingly. Testing written materials can be a helpful tool in avoiding misunderstandings
Medical writers play a critical role in ensuring that medical information is clear and understandable. By creating education materials tailored to diverse audiences, medical writers ensure patients receive actionable information.
Such materials include:
- Patient education brochures
- Simplified medication guides
- Infographics, interactive tools, and videos
Social media campaigns targeting specific health issues
As an American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) member, I will be providing information and resources for MWs to address this critical need of plain language writing on through webinars, books and other training materials. The aim is that such materials identify the existing problems, explain why and how MWs have the unique skill sets necessary to address the communication barriers, highlight opportunities for their work, and empower MWs to meet this challenge to help improve health outcomes.
Summary
Recognising the critical need for improving health outcomes, education for both HCP’s with Continuing Medical Education (CME)/ Continuing Education (CE) materials and patient education through sources where they access their health information is needed.
The challenge is to address this problem by identifying the issues that create the barriers to clear communication. MWs have the unique skill sets to translate med-speak and jargon to plain language with a patient-centric point of view. And by meeting patients where they seek their information in multi-media formats to build a health literacy base.
Let’s demystify medical science with plain language!
Bio
Brenda Kennedy Sellers, Bachelor of Science, is a freelance medical writer and author of “Prescription Drugs: Your Power to $ave Safely – A Plain Language Guide.” With over 30 years of health education experience, Brenda has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between complex medical concepts and patient understanding. Representing more than 800,000 hours of clinical experience collaborating with HCPs, she excels in creating educational materials focused on prescription drugs, pharmacology, disease management, and facilitating CME and CE programs. Passionate about health literacy, Brenda is committed to empowering patients and HCPs through clear, accessible communication.