Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION 26 December 2016 One of the added factors we face in ophthalmology is that our patients are typically older as well, and older age is a risk factor for worse health literacy," she said. Although patient education has always been an important issue, it has become even more critical as the physician/patient relationship has evolved from a parental relationship to a more team-based approach of care, said Jeffrey Schultz, MD, vice chair of clinical affairs, director of the glaucoma service, and associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York. "Patient ed- ucation is critical not only to permit the patient to be more involved in the decisions determining health management but also to better understand the disease process and yield more effective involvement in their own care," he said. Dr. Rosdahl recommends the use of the AAO handouts as well as those from the National Eye Health Education Program (www.nei.nih. gov/nehep) to provide information that is easier for patients to under- stand. If a practice decides to create patient education materials on its own, it isn't necessarily hard, but it can take time and effort, Dr. Rosdahl said. "Most of us find it harder to write at an eighth-grade reading level than at a 12th-grade reading level," she said. An in-house marketing person with an interest in health literacy can be a potentially great candidate to write educational materials that are easier to follow, she said. Some resources that person can use include Microsoft Word's feature to measure readability statis- tics and various resources available to address issues with health literacy, such as those summarized in the recent review. EW Reference 1. Williams AM, et al. Readability of patient education materials in ophthalmology: a single-institution study and systematic review. BMC Ophthalmol. 2016;16:133. Editors' note: The physicians have no financial interests related to their comments. Contact information Rosdahl: Jullia.rosdahl@duke.edu Schultz: asklar@montefiore.org Only the HOLOS IntraOp ™ Wavefront Aberrometer continuously streams patient refractive data. Meaning you'll get a non-stop look at your procedure as it changes. And see cataract surgery in a whole new light. With HOLOS, precision doesn't pause —and neither will you. Really real time. HOLOS.com ©2016 Clarity Medical Systems Inc. PN 100331 Rev B 10/16 Exclusive IOL Predictor NOW AVAILABLE Education continued from page 24 Although some of the feedback obtained from the patient interviews was expected—such as a request to keep information brief—other comments surprised researchers, said study author Jullia Rosdahl, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmol- ogy, Duke University. For example, the patients expressed an interest in learning more about vitamins and diet as they relate to glaucoma—two topics typically not addressed during glaucoma care visits, she said. Making materials easier for patients The challenge to making patient education materials easier to under- stand is not unique to ophthalmol- ogy, Dr. Rosdahl said. "I think most medical specialties struggle with this issue, not just ophthalmology. learning stimulation and motiva- tion, and cultural appropriateness. During the one-to-one inter- views with five glaucoma patients, the revised materials received positive ratings. They also said that using concrete language, a positive tone, and information on what to expect about the clinical course of glaucoma are useful to include in patient education materials.

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