Why Patient Education Materials Miss the Mark - and How to Make Them Better
Let’s face the facts here – most patient education materials fall short, and patients are aware of it. They get handed a stack of papers, skim the first few lines, and then tuck them away in a folder – or a trash bag – that never sees the light of day again. It’s not that the information is wrong or useless. The problem is that it rarely matches what patients actually need in that specific moment.
Maybe the material is too boring. Maybe it buries the most important points halfway through. Maybe they just don’t have the bandwidth to deal with another set of papers. Or maybe, it’s written at a level that feels like they are decoding a medical textbook. Whatever the reason, it often turns into a missed chance for real healthcare communication.
The good news is that patient resources don’t have to be this way. Today, we’ll spend some time discussing five easy strategies that are going to make your patient education materials clearer, more engaging, and truly helpful for the patients that you serve.
Where Educational Materials Go Wrong
Many patient education materials don’t land with patients the way we hope they will, usually due to formatting or delivery of information.
Common issues include:
Content that feels boring and irrelevant
Text walls or jargon
The education stimulating more anxiety instead of confidence
The takeaway being buried
Readability is also a huge consideration. Many handouts are written at a level significantly above the average literacy level, which presents a substantial barrier when considering health literacy in healthcare. If patients can’t understand the material, then how can they put it into practice?
Finally, we often forget to consider the real-life limits that come into play. Patients may be juggling work, caregiving, finances, lack of support, or multiple of these at once. Handing them a 30-page packet doesn’t acknowledge any of those realities. This is where tailoring and improving patient education become so important.
When materials miss the mark, patients can start to feel disconnected or even lose trust in their care team. That gap in understanding is frustrating, but it also has a direct impact on patient outcomes. Better communication starts with content that respects your patient’s time, cultural context, and perspective.
5 Strategies for Better Educational Materials
Here are five smart strategies that can help make your patient education materials more engaging, useful, and memorable.
1. Use technology to meet patients where they’re at
Written handouts will always have a place, but patients today expect a bit more than this. Consider how you can incorporate education into the formats they already use and enjoy. That could mean short videos, a podcast series, or an app with some interactive features.
In a hospital setting, some providers are even experimenting with virtual reality simulations to help patients practice certain skills before they leave or feel prepared for what lies ahead in treatment.
These tools can make difficult topics easier to understand and feel less intimidating. By leveraging technology in patient education, you open up new ways for patients to absorb and revisit important information.
2. Adapt patient education to different learning styles
No two patients process information in the same way. Some prefer to read, while others need to see or hear information to truly understand it. That’s why your patient education materials should come in more than one format.
If you create a podcast, consider pairing it with a one-page summary. If you design a visual infographic, add in a short explainer video. When patients have different options, they can choose the style that best suits them – and regain a sense of agency when given a choice.
3. Stimulate curiosity
Most patients want to learn more about their health, they just need some engaging ways to do it. That’s where your creativity comes in! Gamification, quizzes, or even a “fact of the day” push notification can transform learning from something bland into something fun and enjoyable.
Apps may include rewards for completing modules or pre- and post-test questions to track progress. By tapping into their natural curiosity, you encourage patients to actively participate instead of passively reading.
These kinds of patient engagement strategies help patients remember the information they’ve learned and also motivate them to continue learning more. When patients feel interested and involved, they’re more likely to apply what they’ve learned in their daily lives.
4. Consider limitations
Even the best-designed resources can fall short if they don’t align with a patient’s real-life situation. Many people are juggling a whole lot in their hectic schedule, which makes it harder to commit the necessary time or attention to long, drawn-out materials. Others may lack strong support systems at home.
This is why customizing your patient education materials is so important. Don’t be afraid to ask your patients about their constraints, such as time, resources, or comfort level, and then adjust what you provide accordingly. A five-minute video may be more practical than a lengthy info packet.
This kind of thoughtful healthcare communication will go a long way toward building trust and ensuring patients walk away with something they can actually use. Meeting patients where they are means respecting their realities and not ignoring them.
And if you think this sounds idealistic – like something you’d like to do but don’t have the resources to implement – that’s fair, too. Consider starting the conversation at your practice, clinic, or hospital. You can still ask these questions about what daily life looks like for the patient and acknowledge why learning may be difficult, even if you don’t have a resource tailored to their lifestyle.
Just feeling seen can be a huge motivator in and of itself for most of us.
5. Include care team members and family
Patients should never feel like they’re carrying the weight of understanding their care all on their own. That’s why including caregivers, advocates, and loved ones into the mix is really important. Bringing others in strengthens the entire learning process and provides ongoing reinforcement long after an appointment ends.
Depending on the situation, this might mean inviting a family member to join a teaching session, bringing in a nurse educator, or encouraging patients to identify someone they trust to help support them. This kind of family involvement in healthcare ensures that knowledge is shared, supported, and remembered.
It also turns patient education materials into a tool for the whole care circle, not just the individual. When everyone is on the same page, patients are likely feel less isolated and more empowered.
How to Make Your Materials Matter
At the end of the day, the best patient education materials are practical, engaging, and specifically created for the people that they’re meant to serve. By embracing technology in patient education, adapting to different learning styles, sparking curiosity, recognizing real-world limitations, and relying on support networks, providers can make a huge difference in how patients understand and act on their care.
Even small steps, such as creating shorter handouts that emphasize the bottom line, experimenting with new formats, or incorporating simple patient engagement strategies, can lead to better outcomes.
This is exactly where I can help. I specialize in creating healthcare content that patients actually read, understand, and use. If you’re ready to turn your resources into tools that build trust and connection, now is the time to talk! Reach out today and book your discovery call.
