None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Our team created a new online interactive tool, the Sydney Health Literacy Lab (SHeLL) Health Literacy Editor, to help health services staff write health information that is easy to understand. The Editor gives users real-time feedback to help them write more simply and apply health literacy principles. The aim of this study is to see how well the Health Literacy Editor works. To do this, we will ask participants to simplify health texts using either the Health Literacy Editor, or their usual processes. We will then compare findings across the two groups. We hypothesise that when participants use the Health Literacy Editor to help them revise a text, the health information is easier to understand (e.g. lower grade reading score).
Interventions
Participants will have access to the Editor (https://shell.techlab.works/ ) and self-directed training materials. The Editor is an online browser-based tool that helps users develop text-based health education materials that adhere to health literacy guidelines. The Editor comprises six assessments: readability, complex language, passive voice, text structure, lexical density and diversity, and person-centred language. These are each presented as global scores, with additional, more specific fee
Participants will have access to the Editor (https://shell.techlab.works/ ) and self-directed training materials. The Editor is an online browser-based tool that helps users develop text-based health education materials that adhere to health literacy guidelines. The Editor comprises six assessments: readability, complex language, passive voice, text structure, lexical density and diversity, and person-centred language. These are each presented as global scores, with additional, more specific feedback flagged in the text itself. Several training resources embedded within the intervention include: 1. Help page: The Editor’s help page containing instructions, video tutorials and worked examples 2. Self-check tool: 5 questions to check understanding of key concepts (available from the help page) 3. Quick start guide: A 2-page PDF introducing key concepts (available from the help page) Participants in this group will also be invited to take part in a 30-minute Zoom call administered by a member of the research team. Participants will be introduced to the tool and any relevant training resources, with opportunity to ask questions. If participants are not able to make the Zoom meeting they will have access to a recording of the same content. Zoom attendance / evidence of viewing of the recording will be used to monitor adherence to the intervention. After completing training, participants in the intervention group will be sent a link to the text revision task. They will receive reminders at 1 and 2 weeks if the task has not been completed. During the text revision task, participants are provided with the following instructions: Your task is to revise each of the texts below so that they are easy for most people to understand. Try to: • make the text simpler (aim for Grade 8 to 10) • make sure that the take-home messages stay the same. Participants are asked to set aside 40 minutes for this part of the study. Participants in the intervention group are also instructed to use the Editor to help them revise the text. As stated in the outcomes, participants in the intervention group will also be asked to self-report which features they used within the Editor (e.g. readability, complex language, passive voice)
Sponsors
The University of Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Eligible participants are Australian people whose work or study involves developing health information. This can include, for example, health information providers, health services staff, and clinicians. Students in medicine, allied health and health sciences are also eligible to take part. Participants are not eligible to take part if they have previous experience using the Health Literacy Editor. For consumers rating the resulting revised health information, eligible participants must be adults (18 years and over) with less than a university level of education.
Exclusion criteria
Participants are not eligible to take part if they have previous experience using the Health Literacy Editor.
Outcome results
None listed