Plain Language Makes More Sense with Sayo Adunola

Today, Healthy Turtle contributor and senior PCH student Sayo Adunola shares her insights into the concepts of plain language and healthy literacy. For more on the Brown Bag Lecture discussed below, visit the Center for Health Literacy's Web site at this link. Now, to Anduloa's article:
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I recently had the opportunity to attend the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy Brown-Bag Series. The topic was “Plain Language: Improving How We Communicate,” which gave me a new perspective on health literacy. The speakers were Joanne Locke, Previous Plain Language Advisor, HHS Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, and Annetta Cheek, Chair of the Board, Center for Plain Language.

During the presentation, Ms. Locke defined two important terms, using definitions from the Institute of Medicine and the Center for Plain Language.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines Health Literacy as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

The Center for Plain Language states that Plain language is communication that allows the intended audience to:

• Find what they need,
• Understand what they find, and
• Act appropriately on that understanding.
  

Plain language means readers can use what they find to fulfill their needs the first time they read. Throughout college, I’m sure we have all had to re-read documents/articles several times because it was not written in plain language. Plain language is beneficial to both the writer and the reader because they both can save time and money. Moreover, plain language helps the writer to be more concise—the key is “less is more.”

To achieve plain language, it is important to use:

• Logical organization
• Informative headings
• Active voice
• Pronouns
• Lists and tables
• Common words
  

Moreover, it is important to avoid:

• Abbreviations
• Long sentences
• Unnecessary words
  

So, how can plain language help our society? Presenting clear and easy to understand messages will help solve some health communication problems. By assessing the health literacy of the American population, it is evident that we do have a problem. According to the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 77 million (34%) have basic or below basic skills. This means that they are unable to perform intermediate health literacy tasks such as reading a drug label and knowing how to take their medication.

Since the importance of using plain language is clear, I hope we will all edit our work to ensure that it is readable. Also, next time you decide to use the thesaurus to find a synonym that sounds complex, think again. Saying “prevent” is better than saying “forestall”, saying “confuse” is better than saying “obfuscate,” saying “use” is better than saying “utilize.” The point is—if you want people to understand you, use plain language.