Patient education accessibility - Volume 24, Issue

Patient education that overcomes literacy barriers supports quality care. This article provides an overview of health literacy, describes the concepts of readability and accessibility, and discusses how to empathise with the patient's experience and…

Package leaflets for medication in the EU: The possibility of integrating patients’ perspectives in a regulated genre? - Volume 24, Issue

Package leaflets (PLs) have been legally required to accompany medicines in the EU since 1999. Despite the best intentions and efforts, however, they are generally not well-received by the public for whom they are intended. This paper picks up on…

Improving patient communication by writing with empathy - Volume 21, Issue

Medical writers’ texts are either written for specialists or for non-professionals such as patients and their relatives. Medical writers whose work is intended for patients cannot merely impart facts. They also need to demonstrate that they…

Systematic hospital collection of patient-reported outcome data via patient apps - Volume 27, Issue

Medical writers are increasingly likely to come across patient apps in their work, and we describe here the background and use of two apps for assessing patient-reported outcome (PRO). Systematic collection of PRO data via patient apps has been…

Medical Communications and Writing for Patients - Volume 33, Issue

Section Editor: Lisa Chamberlain James

Involving patients in company-sponsored medical publications: Learning from collaboration with a patient advocacy group to engage patient authors

Authors: Aki Yoshikawa, Atsuko Iwata, Miho Hatano, Yuko Koji…

Using social media as the patient's voice in the benefit-risk assessment of drugs: Are we ready? - Volume 24, Issue

There is no doubt that the public interest in healthcare-related issues is growing. This, coupled with the surge in the use of social media, leaves the pharmaceutical industry with a set of unique opportunities and challenges. The screening and…

A rising tide: Hospitals and social media - Volume 21, Issue

The advent of social media has changed the face of healthcare communications. More and more hospitals are recognizing this fact and seeking to integrate tools like Twitter® and Facebook® into their own communications strategies. This article gives…

Patient-reported outcomes: How useful are they? - Volume 26, Issue

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are any report on the status of a patient’s health condition as told by the patient him or herself or through an interview, without any interpretation by a clinician or anyone else. They generate information on those…

EUPATI: Patient engagement through education as an important contributor to shared decision making - Volume 30, Issue

Building knowledge and capacity for patients and their advocates about the “systems” of healthcare is empowering for patients. The European Patients’ Academy (EUPATI) was established across Europe in 2012 to provide education and training to…

Medical writers moving the needle on patient-centred communication and engagement - Volume 34, Issue

Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in clinical trial design, conduct, and reporting provides an opportunity for patients and members of the public to provide input on what is important to them. This supports patient-centric trial…