Table.

Applying strategies and key recommendations to designing patient education on end-stage renal disease

Strategies to improve education	Key recommendations
Tailor education for individual patients	Fit the format to the preferred way of learning (eg, face-to-face, written, or video presentation)
	Acknowledge what is known and build on that knowledge
	Print the patient’s name on the information
	Tailor videos, images, pictures, and stories that relate to patients’ experiences
	Provide more information in areas in which patients show an interest
	Create individualized goals, discussing how the patient will meet them, and what the patient will do when faced with a problem situation
	Limit the length: newsletters, bullet points, short sentences, and paragraphs
	Use frequent contacts to lessen the amount of information presented at one time (eg, chunking)
Make education understandable for patients with low health literacy	Use of photonovela, comic book
	Use several teaching formats (eg, written, verbal, and teach back)
	Focus on immediate, practical topics and eliminate background information
	Introduce no more than 3 topics at once, with the most important topic first
	Explain complex issues in easy-to-understand language
	Use white space
	Use large font and easy-to-read font (eg, sans serif typeface)
Provide culturally competent education for patients	Show care and empathy: “walk in their shoes”
	Assess the patient’s cultural needs, sources of strength, and communication norms (eg, personal space, touch, eye contact, and taboo subjects)
	Meet patients where they are in regard to treatment options, knowledge, and definition of health beliefs
	Assess the economic resources that are available to the patient through their community/family
	Acknowledge own biases (eg, stereotypes or assumptions related to a patient’s weight, skin color, accent, alternative remedies, and appearance)
	Keep an open about each patient’s thoughts, feelings decision making, and values
Help patients navigate the health care process	Use reminders for upcoming appointments (eg, post cards and phone calls)
	Use navigating headings on materials to orient the reader
	Mail maps and forms to be completed before appointments, asking only for essential information
	Use patient advocates to call and assist with any barriers to accessing health care (eg, a lack of transportation)