Pages

How To Write Patient Handouts

By Mary Gibson


For people with an illness that involves physical exercises in the treatment plan, they will also receive handouts to guide them in carrying out the exercises. The most common type of this document to such patients is one that is known as the Home Exercise Program (HEP) that is used in physical therapy. Here are some tips to note when writing the patient handouts for the patients.

For the plan to work as expected, it should guide the patients accurately through all the exercises that they need to do. To achieve this, accuracy and details should be highly considered when including the physical therapy procedures. For example, the plan should include the exact position to carry out an exercise as well as the time taken or the number of repetitions needed for the exercise.

The flow of information is also important in the guide. To achieve this, the details should be well organized and follow a particular sequence based on the recommendations provided by the doctor. For every exercise included in the plan, the step by step procedure of properly carrying out the various exercise positions is also included.

For some people, there are some procedures written in texts that may be difficult to comprehend. The writer of the handout should thus note these procedures and include a diagram or picture to help ease understanding of the procedure. The diagrams will help supplement the information that is contained in the text thus promoting its understanding.

In writing the plans, there are some factors that need to be considered regarding the text. Some of the factors include keeping the font clear and legible and ensure the minimum font size used is 12. This helps avoid misinterpretation due to poorly written words that affect the procedure taken by the patients in carrying out the physical therapy.

Regarding language, the content explained should be in a manner that is easy to understand even for a child. This ensures that any person can easily read and understand the document. While writing the document, ensure that an informal writing style is used to help patients feel as if you are talking to them personally.

When writing the plans, avoid including complex exercise routines as they discourage most patients. This is especially because they will carry them out at home, so if they are discouraged, then they are likely to avoid doing the whole therapy. To encourage the clients to complete the therapy through following the instructions, ensure that you include simple and light exercises.

Although the plan may contain all the details of the therapy, it is still essential that the doctor explains the physical therapy procedure verbally. This improves the patients understanding of the therapy to avoid making mistakes. The verbal conversation is also aimed at encouraging the patients to ensure that they strictly follow the routine which increases their rate of recovery. Take the above details into consideration and you shall make the most out of the handouts.




About the Author:



0 التعليقات:

Post a Comment

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More