Guides – About our guides

i-Base treatment guides are written in non-technical language and cover five important aspects relating to HIV and treatment.

All guides are available online as web pages and as PDF downloads.

Print copies can be ordered online and are free individually and in bulk to individuals and UK-based clinics and support groups.

We encourage the resources to be translated into other languages and adapted for other health care settings.

i-Base resources try to follow the following rough guidelines.

Guidelines for patient information

The information needs to be clear, concise, accurate, relevant, up-to-date and including a date.
The language used – each word, sentence and paragraph should be chosen to help explain the information.
When more than one option or explanation is possible, explain the differences.
State clearly when something is not known.
Include facts rather than general statements.
Quantify adjectives. Instead of ’some people’ or ‘most people’ try to specify x%. Instead of ’soon’ or ‘wait’ give this in hours/days/weeks/years etc. If referring to high or low, quantify this and include a reference range.

Most people have no formal medical training.
Many people do not have high literacy.
English is not the first language for many people. It is much easier to understand information in a second language if it uses simple short sentences. It is more more complicated if there are 30, 40, 50 or more words, with many qualifying ideas.
Reading age of 12 is a good guide for medical information – similar to tabloid newspapers.

Several simple approaches will increase the percentage of people who can understand the information.

Use words with 1-2 syllables rather than longer words.
Use short sentences. Aim for 10-12 words on average. Use shorter sentences to make the text more clear and lively. No sentence should need more than 15 words.
Use short paragraphs. Ideally 1-3 sentences per paragraph. Each paragraph to make one clear point.
Use the active tense rather than passive voice or tense.
If technical terms are important, explain them in non technical language.
Include a glossary.
Personal stories can make the information much more real.

A larger heading makes each section clear.
Consider an introduction paragraph in a larger typeface or bold type.
Use short subheadings.
Text size should ideally be 12 pt.
Leave space on the page – no more than 75% text, 50% is better.
Include pictures.
Include graphs and tables for information that is clearer in this format.
Include summaries with bullet points for conclusions.
If printing in colour, ensure good contrast for text. Do not use white text against light tone backgrounds. Test a colour leaflet with a black and white photocopy. If anything can’t be easily read, the contrast needs to be changed.

1 February 2011