Communicating benefits and risks of generic drugs to consumers: Patient and caregiver opinions of two FDA-developed educational materials

Background: Increasing prescribing and dispensing of generic drugs, compared to brand drugs, may increase patient access to affordable medications. However, little is known about patients' and caregivers' needs and receptiveness regarding the design of educational materials about generic drugs. Methods: The research used focus groups of patients and caregivers who were students or employees of one university in the Southeastern U.S. to gather input on the optimal content, format and design, delivery channel, and level of satisfaction for two existing, FDA-developed educational materials about generic drugs (infographic and brochure). Results: Participants stated a need for the materials to modernize their graphics, emphasize generic drug cost-savings for consumers, reduce scare tactics when discussing adverse events, and be disseminated directly from physician's offices and pharmacies. Despite an overall positive impression of the materials, participants wanted more consumer-oriented materials that were tailored to fit the needs of different types of patients/caregivers, including older adults. Conclusions: This paper discusses how these findings relate to theories of multimedia learning and guidelines for designing health educational materials, as well as implications for the development of tailored generic drug educational materials for use in public health campaigns to improve access to medication therapy.