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Keeping it simple – 8

Home » Keeping it simple – 8
Keeping it simple – 8The Teach-back Team2022-11-24T07:24:22+00:00
Five key steps in the teach-back process

STEP 1 | Explain

Use plain language to explain or demonstrate

KISS – Keep it Simple for Safety

We know 60% of people struggle to understand health information.
Reference

Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2009.  Health Literacy Australia. 4102.0 – Australian Social Trends. ABS. Accessed Dec 2017

As healthcare workers, medical terminology comes to us naturally, and it’s easy to forget that these terms are ‘difficult’ for many people.  Minimise your use of medical jargon. Instead of saying benign, saying ‘not harmful’ will make better sense. Avoid acronyms, and words with multiple meanings, such as ‘dressing’ or ‘negative’. If you tell someone their x-ray was negative for example, they may think that’s a bad thing.

However, people sometimes say that they just wished all providers used the same words….so if you use a complex word that you know other providers will use, explain what it means. For example, explain hypertension so the next time they hear it, they know it means ‘high blood pressure’.

The best approach is to use simple terms and to demonstrate Keep it Simple for Safety (KISS).

Try thinking of more effective ways to communicate the ideas in the boxes below
before rolling your mouse over each for some suggestions

Instead of:

Condition

Try saying:

A medical problem, a disease, an illness

Instead of:

Chronic

Try saying:

Constant, never ending, does not go away, long term, lasting a long time

Instead of:

Diagnosis

Try saying:

Finding out the cause of an illness, condition, disease, medical answer

Instead of:

Intermittent

Try saying:

Off and on

Instead of:

Intervention

Try saying:

Care

Instead of:

Fracture

Try saying:

Broken bone

Instead of:

Oral

Try saying:

By mouth

Instead of:

Ambulate

Try saying:

Walk

Instead of:

Inflammation

Try saying:

Sore, swelling

Instead of:

Adverse reaction

Try saying:

Bad reaction

Instead of:

Negative

Try saying:

Can mean a “good” or “bad” result, depending on the context

Instead of:

Diet

Try saying:

What you eat

Instead of:

Benign

Try saying:

Not harmful

Instead of:

Hypertension

Try saying:

High blood pressure

Instead of:

Incision

Try saying:

Cut

Instead of:

Monitor

Try saying:

Keep track of, keep an eye on

Instead of:

Normal Range

Try saying:

Where it should be, provide the range

Instead of:

Cardiac

Try saying:

Heart-related

Instead of:

Referral

Try saying:

Ask to see another doctor/health professional

Instead of:

OT - Occupational Therapist

Try saying:

Someone who helps people to learn or relearn everyday activities and tasks.

Using Plain Language

Watch these two videos to answer the next question.

In which video below does the Occupational Therapist use plain language instead of technical terms?

Video A

Your browser does not support the video tag.
Choose Video A

Video B

Your browser does not support the video tag.
Choose Video B

In Video B the occupational therapist uses plain language instead of technical terms.
In Video A she use terms such as ‘subluxation’ and ‘glenohumeral joint’ which clearly confuses her patient.

Plain Language Medical Dictionary

Tip!

Remember when we provide information it’s important to slow down.
When we are telling someone something we know really well or we think is important, we tend to speed up.
The recommended speed for friendly, conversational language is 110 to 150 words per minute.
An example is provided below to illustrate an ‘about right’ speed to talk to people.

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