The quality and suitability of written educational materials for patients

Aim. In this study, the quality and suitability of written educational materials being used for the education of patients in surgical departments of hospitals were studied. Background. In the literature, it is stated that most of the educational materials for patients are not suitable from the aspects of contents, structure, design, composition and language. Method. In this descriptive type study, which was carried out between March and May 2006, 59 examples of written educational material used for patient education at 138 surgical clinics were evaluated for quality and suitability. The written educational materials obtained were evaluated independently by researchers from the aspect of quality and suitability. The DISCERN measuring instrument was used in the evaluation of the reliability of the written educational materials and the Evaluation of the Suitability of Written Materials form was used in the evaluation of suitability. Results. It was determined that the educational materials received low scores for reliability and information quality. It was determined that the total scores for the written educational materials were average for suitability. Conclusion. It was determined that there were no written educational materials in more than half of the surgical units included in the study. It was also found that the educational materials had serious deficiencies. Relevance to clinical practice. This study showed that there was no adequate written patient educational material at the clinics. This deficiency in written educational materials could be eliminated by having them prepared by health professionals in accordance with guidebooks and taking the target group into account.