Do you even stop to think of the literacy skills among your target audience? What about the application of effective design to speed understanding? Maybe can apply some of the important work being conducted in the pediatric community to simplify consent forms.

Frankly, parents have a heard time interpreting relative levels of risk. And the poor communications skills exhibited by most doctors doesn’t help.

“At the University of Michigan, Dr. Alan Tait has been working with colleagues in the department of anesthesiology to develop an improved consent form aimed at parents with low literacy skills whose children are facing surgery.

“Using simpler, friendlier language is just the first step,” Dr. Tait said. The form in one experimental survey of 305 parents was vastly preferred by those who read well in addition to those with low literacy skills. It also used a larger typeface, shorter paragraphs, illustrations and bulleted points to help clarify the message.

Elsewhere, health literacy specialists are working on audio or video consent forms - interactive audiotapes or DVD’s that can be navigated at a patient’s own pace via a telephone keypad, a touch-screen kiosk or an inexpensive DVD player.

Most rely on live-action vignettes and colorful images instead of dense blocks of text to explain complicated concepts like the risks and benefits of different types of blood pressure medicines or asthma inhalers or the ins and outs of glucose monitors used for diabetes.” (NYTimes)