More on taking your medication

More and more is being written and researched about how patients are taking (or not) taking their medications properly.  Another article below highlights some of the reasons why.  Once again though, proper consideration for the significant population of people with non-functional literacy appears to be less considered.

Read the article "Americans Not Making the Grade on Medication Adherence" published by Medscape Jun 25, 2013.http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/806864?nlid=31865_1301&src=wnl_edit_dail&uac=206251HV 

Then checkout other examples of how information could be improved for people with low literacy.

An appointment card http://www.easyhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/appointment_card.pdf

 

 When and how to take my medication - this document has places for the patient to fill in details about their own medications.http://www.easyhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/All%20my%20medications.pdf

Email or call me to discuss how to improve how your consumers can better understand their medications.

cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au or phone 0466 579 855

References

1. Megan Brooks. Americans Not Making the Grade on Medication Adherence" published by Medscape Jun 25, 2013.http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/806864?nlid=31865_1301&src=wnl_edit_dail&uac=206251HV Downloaded 15 July 2013.

 2. EasyHealth

Appointment card http://www.easyhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/appointment_card.pdf  

Downloaded 15 July 2013. 

3.  EasyHealth

When and how to take my medicationhttp://www.easyhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/All%20my%20medications.pdf   Downloaded 15 July 2013.

 

What word will I use?

The English language is difficult for many people to read.

Words spelt the same way, may have different meanings or different ways to be pronounced.


 How often do you have to think about which words to choose in your text?
How often  do the words have more than one meaning?
...Then you must think about how the words are put together.  



Read about "Up", one of the smallest words in the English language.

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?
Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends.
And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.
We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has real special meaning.
People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.
In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.
It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.
When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP,
for now my time is UP,





Text from unknown origin,


Also read about "run" from Simon Winchester in the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/opinion/29winchester.html?_r=0 

Cathy cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au 

The Power of Pictures

Just released from Books without Words in the UK is their updated catalogue of resources on a wide variety of topics.

‘Books without Words’ is just that. The books are illustrations of many useful health and well being topics.  You can use the blank page beside the illustration to write you own or your client's story, or read from the story written at the back of the book.

Some titles are available online, but most you can order in hard copy.
The latest titles include

·         You're in Prison

·         Loving Each Other Safely

·         Getting on with Type 1 Diabetes

·         Getting on with Type 2 Diabetes

·         Ann has dementia

Check out the other titles at
http://www.booksbeyondwords.co.uk/sites/default/files/bw2013Catalogue_web.pdf

Cathy. cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au