Tools and Resources

This page includes only a few of the many resources that we have curated for our members. To access all resources, become an HCEA Member.

Do you have a tool or resource to suggest?

Suggestion Form

• **New**Patient Education Practice Guidelines for Health Care Professionals
• Illustrations and Images for Patient Education
• Videos for Patient Education
• Health Related Mobile Sites and Apps
• Literacy Assessment Tools for Written Materials
• Culture and Languages
• Health Literacy
• Patient and Family-Centered Care and Engagement
• Patient Education Practice and Research
• Quality Improvement
• Professional Development: Patient Education and Health Literacy
• Developing Materials
• National Voluntary Health Organizations

 Illustrations And Images For Patient Education

• ADAM Images- large collection of medical images. Cost involved.
   
• Blausen Media- color 3-D animations. Cost involved.
   
• Hardin Library of Health Sciences, University of Iowa - medical picture library and links to other medical illustration websites. Some free, some cost involved.

Videos For Patient Education

Videos about the human body

• Videos about Anatomy & Physiology- Fun series about Anatomy & Physiology for teenagers and older. (2015)

• TED-Ed Videos about the human body- Animated videos from TED about the human body and various health conditions for teenagers and older. (2020 and earlier).

• How the Body Works- free online video series for kids related to how various parts of the body work from KidsHealth.org (2016).

Health Related Mobile Sites And Apps

• Journey Boards (pediatric patient education) - free apps from Phoenix Children's Hospital that encourage families of a sick child to engage in conversations, including teach-back with the health care team. Topics include: hospital stay, surgery, cancer, asthma (English and Spanish), tube feeding, peritoneal dialysis, bones, and transplant.
   
• Kincare– a free cloud based app designed to provide help in caring for yourself and your loved ones. Kincare provides various functions necessary for orchestrating home health care, including but not limited to scheduling, medication, communication, vitals tracking and coordinates care/ health coordination.
   
• MediSafe– free pill reminder app that includes a picture of the pill the person is scheduled to take. It can also send alerts to a family member for missed doses.

Literacy Assessment Tools For Written Materials

• PMAT - Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool. An instrument to assess the understandability and actionability of print and audiovisual patient education materials.

•    User's Guide (this site has all links below)

•    Tool for print

•    Tool for audio/visual

•   Online scoring tool 

• CDC Clear Communication Index Score Sheet- The Index has 4 introductory questions and 20 scored items drawn from scientific literature in communication and related disciplines. Use this online fillable tool to score your written pieces for clear, understandable language.July 2014

• Doak, Doak and Root - Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM)- SAM, the Suitability Assessment of Materials instrument offers a systematic method to objectively assess the suitability of health information materials.  2008 

Culture And Languages

• HealthReach offers easy access to FREE quality multilingual, multicultural health information for those working with or providing care to individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). Find culturally relevant print materials in multiple languages and formats about health conditions and wellness topics. HealthReach is easy to use on tablets and mobile devices. Locate resources at point of need, everywhere with streamlined search features and results pages. All content is created or reviewed by medical professionals for quality and accuracy. Detailed abstracts, date of most recent medical review, and translation methods are provided for every resource.(2019)  

• Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, 2nd Edition Tool 10. Consider Culture, Customs and Beliefs.  Religion,culture, beliefs, and ethnic customs can influence how patients understand health concepts, how they take care of their health, and how they make decisions related to their health. Asking about patients' religions, cultures, and ethnic customs can help clinicians engage patients so that, together, they can devise treatment plans that are consistent with the patients' values.Consider Culture, Customs, and Beliefs: Tool #10 (2015).  

• Fang, Mei Lan et al. A Knowledge Synthesis of Culturally- and Spiritually-Sensitive End-of-Life Care: Findings from a Scoping Review. BMC Geriatrics 16 (2016): 107. PMC. Web. 8 Aug. 2017.

Health Literacy

• Federal Plain Language Guidelines, 2018
   
• AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, 2nd edition-last reviewed May 2017
   
• The Journey to Become a Health Literate organization: A Snapshop of Health System Improvement, 2017

Patient And Family-Centered Care And Engagement

• Pediatricians approach and benefits of patient family centered care. Educators may use to obtain strategies needed to get buy in from upper level staff.
   
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Our goal is to usher a new era of partnerships between clinicians and individuals where values, needs and preferences of the individual are honored. Read more here!
   
• Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses. As a nurse, embrace the patient and family centered care approach.

Patient Education Practice and Research

• Evidence Based Leadership Council - The EBLC is a collaborative effort to help you find, adopt and implement evidence-based health promotion programs. This site is a centralized hub for communities, senior centers, and others seeking to learn more about innovative programs proven to help people manage and improve their health and well being. 2018
   
• Self-Management Resource Center - The evidence-based self management programs previously offered by Stanford Patient Education Research Center. Millions of adults live with one or more chronic health conditions. Our programs help people and their caregivers manage their symptoms, improve their quality of life, and reduce healthcare costs.
   
• Improving the patient experience through a "commit to sit" service excellent initiative - Research based article on how to improve patient satisfaction scores by sitting and making eye contact when teaching. Lidgett, Cari D. Patient Experience Journal. 2016.
   

Quality Improvement

• Multicultural Health Care Improvement Guide (PDF download). The guide, developed by NCQA in collaboration with Lilly USA, LLC, serves as a resource for those wanting to undertake quality improvement initiatives to improve culturally and linguistically appropriate services and to reduce disparities in care.
   
• Health Equity Must Be a Strategic Priority. NEJM Catalyst. 2017. Report on research conducted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) since 2015 with health systems that have taken a comprehensive approach to health equity.
   
• Free From Harm: Acceleration Patient Safety Improvement Fifteen Years after To Err is Human. National Patient Safety Foundation. 2015.

Professional Development:
Patient Education And Health Literacy

• Essentials of Patient Education by Susan B. Bastable. 2016.

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Improving the Informed Consent Process in the Hospital Setting. Improving the Informed Consent Process in the Hospital Setting. Free online course providing advice on how to improve the principles of informed consent using clear, easy to understand language. (2016).
   
• The Joint Commission.  Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community. Provides strategies, examples and resources to create a more welcoming, safe and inclusive environment that contributes to improved health care quality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients and their families. (2011).

Developing Materials

Manuals/PDFs

• Tips on Using Design To Improve Readability - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). October 2019.

• Writing Health Information for Patients and Families 4^th Edition. A comprehensive health literacy guide for developing consumer educational materials from Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, Canada. (PDF). 2014. 
  
  

• Simply Put: A Guide for Creating Easy-to-Understand Materials - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2009.

National Voluntary Health Organizations

• American Academy of Dermatology - free resources on skin-related topics for kids.

• Chest Foundation – Patient education resources include PDFs on pulmonary/respiratory disease topics for free. Also have videos available for cost. Some items available in Spanish.

• OrthoInfo - Patient education from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Includes medical illustrations. Can be printed or emailed. Also in Spanish. No cost. Can customize with clinic logo.

NOTE: Always check applicable copyright/permission information before using of any these resources. Some of these sites offer free images, videos and apps and some are fee-based; some are "print only" (not able to be copied or saved); some require written permission before using/adapting; some are protected under copyright laws and some are available in the public domain. HCEA does not endorse or recommend any of the companies, persons, websites, resources, or other products included in the Tools and Resources section. Please see our guidelines for details on how HCEA selects resources to list here.