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Draft Guide to the Production and Provision of Information about Health and Healthcare Interventions
Introduction
Why is health information important?
Good quality information is an integral part of good quality healthcare. The Scottish Executive Health Department regards good quality information as an essential feature of the patient-focused services that the NHS in Scotland is striving to provide.
Why do people need information about health and healthcare interventions?
People require information for various reasons such as to:
Understand what is wrong with them;
Understand what particular tests and treatments involve and what their outcomes might be;
Contribute in a more informed way to discussions or decisions about their care;
Care appropriately for themselves and their families;
Know when to seek professional help and be able to make the most of consultations;
Be reassured and feel able to cope;
Explain to others (for example, families, friends or employers) what is wrong with them and what treatments they might need;
Identify further sources of information, self-help groups, or health and social care professionals who can offer appropriate services and support;
Be aware of the services which are available;
Understand what their rights are;
Ask for a second opinion;
Know what to do if something goes wrong or if they want to comment on the service they have received.
How can information help?
Good quality information can:
Help people to help themselves by:
Explaining the health implications of particular lifestyle choices;
Improving their ability to identify and cope with practical and emotional problems;
Giving them the knowledge and confidence to self-treat when appropriate;
Enabling them to seek out effective forms of professional help or lay support.
Help people to get more out of professional healthcare by:
Familiarising them with the types of issues that they might need to discuss with healthcare professionals;
Helping them to understand what they are told by healthcare professionals;
Helping them to formulate and ask relevant questions;
Making them aware of the types of treatment and standards of care that should be offered.
Make people feel better because they:
Know that their problems are real and recognised;
Feel better able to cope with their problems and identify ways of improving their situation;
Understand what their treatment involves and why they need it;
Feel more confident and in control.
Enable people to give informed consent to healthcare procedures.
Enable carers to understand how best to support people in their care.
What is the guide for?
The guide is one of a series of initiatives supported by the Scottish Executive Health Department to help improve the quality of information provision within the NHS in Scotland. It aims to give useful ideas and practical advice about how to assess, develop, revise and maintain information about health and healthcare interventions for patients, their families or members of the public.
It pays particular attention to the
quality of this. Although prepared particularly for people working within, or with the NHS in Scotland, this guide should be useful to anyone involved in assessing, developing or revising information materials.
How can the guide help you?
Whether reviewing existing or developing new information, this guide contains useful help and guidance along with contact details for other resources and organisations (
see Section 9).
Developing new information materials
We suggest you read the whole guide once before you start.
Are you sure there is not already a good quality information package that will serve the purpose you envisage? Part I outlines the key features of good quality information. It also gives practical advice on the provision of current and accurate information. Part II takes you through the main stages of developing an information package. If you decide to go ahead and produce a package you can return to particular sections of the guide as you proceed.
Reviewing existing information materials
If you are planning to revise existing information materials, we suggest you read the whole guide once before you start. You can then consider particular issues in more detail by returning to the appropriate sections as you proceed. Although you are not 'starting from scratch' to develop an information package, many of the issues that are covered in the early sections remain relevant as you obtain feedback on the package you plan to revise.
How comprehensive is the guide?
It is not a comprehensive information production manual. It focuses on the development of the
content of text-based information materials only. The stages of production that the guide refers to are those for the production of text-based information, and we have not provided technical details about how to use different media. We have not devoted much space to information presentation because these have been well covered in other guides and local/corporate protocols. Some useful contacts and references are listed in Section 9 of this guide.
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