Written information for treating minor illness

doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7311.516

BMJ 2001;323:516 ( 1 September )

Letters

Written information for treating minor illness

Authors did not consider patients' view of information they received

Patients find printed advice written with easy-to-find format helpful

Authors did not consider patients' view of information they received

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Two papers conclude that information booklets are unlikely to influence consulting rates. ¹ ² One criticism ofthese papers that we have is their failure to report on the qualityof the booklets used and how this might be judged, or to commenton the factors other than factual content that might affect patients'reactions to the materials. This failure comes despite the resourcesprovided by the NHS Centre for Health Information Quality³and despite comments made in an accompanying editorial.⁴ Moreimportant, however, is the way in which patients are characterisedby thesepapers.

The outcome chosen in both studies $---$ that of reducing consultation $---$ represents a prioritising of professional and biomedicalagendas over the patients' agenda, in common with many previouslypublished papers of this type.⁵ The preoccupation with effectingbehavioural changes in patients implies that the main purposesof printed information are to manipulate patients and remedy their. . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Article

Assessment of impact of information booklets on use of healthcare services: randomised controlled trial • Commentary: What's wrong with opting out? • Commentary: Public opinion may force researchers to seek "opt in" consent for all studies: David Heaney, Sally Wyke, Philip Wilson, Rob Elton, Philip Rutledge, Ann Sommerville, and Tom Wilkie
BMJ 2001 322: 1218. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]