Table 3.
Strengths and weaknesses of materials using PEMAT-P
| PEMAT-P Item | Materials n = 14 |
Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Understandability Strengths | ||
| Organization | ||
| The material breaks or “chunks” information into short sections | 14 (100%) | All of the material was separated into paragraphs or shorter sections |
| The material presents information in a logical sequence | 14 (100%) | All of the material was presented in a logical sequence with the most important information presented first |
| Content | ||
| Material does not include information or content that distracts from its purpose | 13 (93%) | Most of the items included content directly related to the purpose |
| Use of Numbers | ||
| The material does not expect the user to perform calculations | 13 (93%) | No calculations required except asking the patient to calculate heart rate1 |
| Weaknesses | ||
| Word Choice & Style | ||
| Material uses common, everyday language | 6 (43%) | Examples of technical, unfamiliar language: |
| - Alleviate - Precautions | ||
| - Ridding - Perspective | ||
| - Incorporate | ||
| - Medical management guidelines | ||
| Use of Visual Aids | ||
| The material’s visual aids reinforce rather than distract from the content2 | 2 (33%) | Overall pictures are more decorative than informative |
| - Visuals such as holding hands not relevant | ||
| - Most pictures not supportive of text | ||
| The material’s visual aids have clear titles or captions2 | 2 (33%) | Minimal use titles or captions for visuals (graphs or pictures) |
| Actionability Strengths | ||
| The material clearly identifies at least one action the user can take | 14 (100%) | All of the material clearly directed the patient to taking at least one action |
| Weaknesses | ||
| The material breaks down any action into manageable, explicit steps | 10 (72%) | Most of the material did not break down action into specific steps |
| - No description of where patients can pursue genetic testing3 | ||
| - No discussion of how to “take steps toward reconstruction”4 |
Note. A score of 70% is recommended for patient education materials.
1
Breast Cancer Treatment Handbook, Chapter 20: Diet and Exercise.
2
Sample was out of 6; remaining materials were rated as N/A.
3
Patient Resource Magazine.
4
Breast Cancer Survivorship Handbook, Chapter 11 – Dealing with Body Image Issues.