The links on this page introduce the concept of Plain Language - one strategy that has been greatly promoted as a means of delivering written health information to patients. Among these links you will find rules for drafting plain language documents, tools to assist you with the writing process, and guides for assessing the readability of documents.
Assessing Plain Language Documents
Plain Language Organizations & Initiatives
The following
sites introduce the concept, and identify the cardinal rules, of plain
language writing.
PlainTrain: Plain Language Online
Training Program - Janet Dean and Cheryl Stephens
www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/plaintrain/index.html
Plain English at Work: A guide to help
organisations develop plain English documents - Australia's
Department of Education, Training and Youth
www.dest.gov.au/sectors/training_skills/publications_resources/profiles/Plain_English_at_work.htm
Plain English At A Glance - Plain Language Action Network -
Plain English Network, US
www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/quickreference/glance.cfm
PLAIN LANGUAGE THESAURI
CLAD Online Thesaurus -
Clear Language and Design- East End Literacy, Toronto, ON
www.eastendliteracy.on.ca/ClearLanguageAndDesign/thesaurus/
Dictionary of Plain Language -
Duncan Kent & Associates, Vancouver, BC
www.techcommunicators.com/pdfs/style-diction.pdf
The A-Z of Alternative Words -
Plain English Campaign, Derbyshire, England
www.plainenglish.co.uk/files/alternative.pdf
Plain English Lexicon: A Guide to Whether Your Words Will be Understood - Martin Cutts
http://www.clearest.co.uk/files/PlainEnglishLexicon.pdf
Plain
Language Thesaurus for Health Communications - CDC National
Center for Health Marketing
http://www.nphic.org/files/editor/file/thesaurus_1007.pdf
Words
to Watch Fact Sheet
http://www.clearhealthcommunication.com/media/words-to-watch.html
PRISM Readability Toolkit - Program for Readability In Science & Medicine (PRISM)
http://www.grouphealthresearch.org/capabilities/readability/readability_home.html
Reviewer's
Guide to Evaluating Health Information Materials
by Sandra Smith, MPH, CHES, BeginningsGuides 2008
http://www.guidesforbeginnings.com/pdfs/articles/Reviewers-Guide.pdf
Assessing Plain Language Documents
The following sites identify common formulas for determining the reading level of any piece of written text. Applying these formulas will help you determine whether your document is written at an appropriate level for your audience.
Reading Effectiveness Tool - Clear
Language And Design, East End Literacy, Toronto, ON
www.eastendliteracy.on.ca/ClearLanguageAndDesign/readingeffectivenesstool/
Health Literacy Studies: Assessing Materials
- Harvard School of Public Health
www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/materials.html#three
Plain Language Organizations and Initiatives
Canadian Public Health Association Plain
Language Service
http://www.cpha.ca/en/pls.aspx
Clear Language and Design. East End Literacy
www.eastendliteracy.on.ca/ClearLanguageAndDesign/start.htm
Communication Research Institute of
Australia, Inc. (CRIA)
www.communication.org.au/
Clear and Simple: Developing Effective
Print Materials for Low Literate Readers
www.cancer.gov/cancerinformation/clearandsimple
Directory of Plain Language Health
Information
www.pls.cpha.ca/english/directry.htm
Plain Language Action Network
www.plainlanguage.gov
Plain Language Association International
(PLAIN)
www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/
The Plain Language Initiative -
National Institutes of Health
http://execsec.od.nih.gov/plainlang/index.html
The Plain Swedish Group
www.regeringen.se/sb/d/4428/a/30647
To learn more about available health literacy or plain language resources, contact The Centre for Literacy's librarian at: