Table 2.

Findings

Theme	Findings
Usefulness/Value	• Patient versions of guidelines can inform and empower people to ask questions. • They can help people to anticipate what to expect when seeing a healthcare professional or having an intervention. • They may be most useful to patients around the time of their diagnosis. • Information about risks is most useful if directly associated with information about self management or any form of action. • Simple diagrams and charts can communicate information clearly. • It is helpful to flag clearly any important areas not covered by the guideline. • Signposting to organisations that can provide help and further information is valued.
Usability	• Language should be kept as simple as possible • User testing may help to identify how much technical information to include. • Small font size, use of light/pale colours, and too much material on a page were major barriers to use of the guideline by this patient group. • Clear flagging of recommendations using headings/icons works well. • A risk of 2 in 100 was interpreted by some as very high and others as very low. • Icons for levels of recommendation worked best when kept recognisable, with a clear link to the intended message. • Vague or generic icons can cause confusion and be misinterpreted e.g. a blue circle can be interpreted as a zero. • Uncertainty was effectively communicated by the “?” icon but people may not know how to respond to this information.
Credibility	• Credibility arose from information on the guideline production process, and the involvement of qualified professionals. • The status of the guideline is important (do health services recognise the recommendations). • Credibility may be threatened by pathways or recommendations that do not fit with the patient’s own experiences.
Desirability	• Participants were very positive about the look and feel of this patient version. • Aspects that increased desirability included a friendly tone, simple language, chunking of text, the use of colour, glossy “high quality” look, and use of icons/images. • A friendly feel is achieved by informal language, use of colour, and the inclusion of quotes and images/icons. • Negative language or images, and a bureaucratic/dogmatic tone were disliked. • Quotes can personalise the material, giving it an engaging and friendly tone, and emphasising a particular message.
Accessibility/Findability	• The brief contents page, with simple question based headings was clear and facilitated flicking to relevant sections. • The participants were very concerned about the apparent lack of dissemination of patient versions of guidelines. • It is important for printed copies of the guideline to be available. • The patient version must be tailored to the intended audience’s needs (e.g. font size, language/numerical information). • Information on how to access the services/interventions recommended is important. • Clear branding as a patient version is required. • Clear information on “who this booklet is for” encouraged people to read and share the guideline. • It is important to give telephones numbers and addresses as well as websites for signposted organisations.