Improving health literacy by translating patient education content

Providing patient education materials improves your patients’ healthcare journey and overall health literacy. For patients with limited-English proficiency (LEP), you need to translate your materials to provide the same access to crucial health information. Help your LEP patients better understand and manage their health using these tips from CyraCom’s experts.

Why create patient education content?

Negative health consequences increase when patients have low health literacy. Without the ability to understand, engage, and act upon health information, patients are more likely to experience poor outcomes. For example, research shows that heart failure patients with lower levels of health literacy saw higher admission and mortality rates. Another study showed that just 45 minutes of patient education can improve chronic disease management.

What information should patient education content include?

The first step in creating patient education materials is focusing on the most relevant information. You don’t want to overwhelm the patient with too much content, and should focus on:

• What the patient needs to do/avoid and why
• Warning signs to watch for and what to do if they occur
• Who your patient should contact with questions or concerns
• When the patient can expect results (if applicable)

What types of patient education content should you provide?

People learn in different ways, so creating a variety of options to choose from can increase the likelihood of your patients interacting with your educational materials. You can deliver crucial health information in many forms, including:

• Printed materials, such as brochures and pamphlets
• Videos, eLearning courses, or presentations
• Ongoing email/newsletter subscriptions
• Demonstrations, classes, or webinars

For each option, keep in mind that you’ll need to accommodate patients who are LEP
or have disabilities:

• Translate written content into your community’s most common languages
• Provide translated subtitles or captioning for pre-recorded videos and presentations
• Invite an interpreter to assist with live events

How can your team choose the best partner for translating patient education content?

A qualified language services provider can help you accurately translate content and localize your materials to look and sound as if they were originally created using the target language. CyraCom is a trusted partner for translation and interpretation services due to our:

Cost effective and consistent translations

• Free project quotes and competitive per-word rates
• Long-term saving opportunities with Translation Memory

Supportive and easy-to-follow process

• Free-of-cost, user-friendly, and secure Translation Portal
• Dedicated project management

Accurate, culturally sensitive translations you can trust

• Qualified and vetted translation experts
• ISO-accredited quality assurance process