Not all patient pamphlets need illustrations
The goal of a patient pamphlet is to ensure that patients understand the medical issue they are facing, and the instructions provided by their clinician. As a content creator, you may wish to add illustrations to your pamphlet to enhance patient understanding. For example, a pamphlet on tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy may include a diagram of the head with the adenoids, tonsils, and lingual tonsils labelled. A pamphlet on hip surgery may include a diagram of the structure of the hip.
Illustrations should not be used if they are not critical to enhancing patient learning
Illustrations should not be included:
- to make a pamphlet look attractive or 'flashy'
- if you do not have copyright permission to use the illustrations (Learn more about image copyright.)
- if the illustrations were chosen without consideration of diversity and/or inclusion
- if you do not have high resolution image files (e.g. greater than 300 pixels per inch or a JPEG with a file size of around 1 to 1.5 MB)
When in doubt, keep it simple! Illustrations can be both helpful and distracting. When illustrations are done poorly, they can lead to patient confusion.
If including illustrations is critical to enhance patient learning, you will need to decide whether you would like the pamphlet to be printed in black and white or in colour. The front and back covers (the ‘shell’) of all Nova Scotia Health pamphlets printed at the Print Shop include coloured branding. However, you may choose to have the rest of your content, including any extra images or logos added to the cover, printed in black and white or colour.
The Patient Education Team can only send one version of a pamphlet to the Print Shop, either black and white or colour. Please take time to decide whether the content of your pamphlet (including added images or logos on the cover) needs to be printed in colour, since this may significantly increase the cost per copy. Selecting colour also means that if you want black and white copies in the future, you will need to specifically request this from the Print Shop. Remember, you can request a quote from the Print Shop before placing your order.
If you have any questions about creating patient pamphlets, please visit the Content Creator Toolkit. You can also reach out to the Patient Education Team or to Library Services, or book a consult with one of our team members. We're here to support you throughout the process!
Reference:
Collier R. (2011). Educating patients with pictures. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(15), E1094. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-3967
Jackie Zoppa
Library Technician, Patient Pamphlets
Nova Scotia Hospital, Central Zone
Searching for accurate, evidence-based literature can be complicated. The good news is, most medical databases have developed filters to help you retrieve more precise results.
Search filters (also called hedges) are used to narrow a search and/or focus on a specific publication type, level of evidence, and/or subject area. Filters are constructed using specific database syntax (rules and commands). Search strategies are developed using rules and commands to search a variety of databases and interfaces, including PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE®, and CINAHL. (Nova Scotia Health Library Services, 2021)
Search filters are a quick and efficient way to search for information. They usually fall into two broad categories:
(Curtin University Library, 2020)
It is important to recognize and identify the impact that using a particular filter may have on your search results. If a particular filter works well in a given context and does not appear to produce a high number of irrelevant results or exclude relevant items, by all means use it. However, you should be mindful that filters can alter what is retrieved from your search (Nova Scotia Health Library Services, 2021).
Several trusted databases, including PubMed, have developed filters to narrow search results by methodology, publication type or question category (e.g. therapy, diagnosis, etiology, prognosis, clinical prediction guides). Reviewing the step-by-step instructions for applying filters in PubMed is a helpful way to get started.
Applying search filters in PubMed
Let’s work with a research question to see how search filters can assist you, when used properly, to obtain relevant results.
Example research question: Does exercise help improve back pain in adults?
To help narrow down our results in PubMed we can apply the following filters after we have conducted our search:
Applying these filters decreases our number of results from 7,000 to 34. Although this is a much more manageable number, it is important to be aware that potential results may be missed by applying filters.
It is recommended to use filters produced by trusted groups. For a detailed list of search filters produced by reliable groups, please visit Library Services’ Search Filters page.
Remember to be critical when using filters, so that you do not produce a high number of irrelevant results or exclude relevant items. For more information on search filters, be sure to check out our Searching guide for helpful tips. As always, reach out to Library Services with any questions or requests.
References:
Curtin University Library. (2020). Search Filters. Retrieved from https://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/c.php?g=863554&p=6631322
Nova Scotia Health Library Services. (2021). Searching. Retrieved from https://library.nshealth.ca/Searching
Amanda Andrews
Librarian Educator
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone