Health literacy is a vital aspect of healthcare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a valuable resource entitled “Everyday Words for Public Health Communication” to utilize in your quality improvement and health literacy efforts.
This document lists frequently used terms in public health materials and their common, everyday alternatives in plain language sentences. Original sentence examples come from materials on CDC.gov. This is a useful tool as we work to ensure materials are readable and understood by our target audiences.
Some words and phrases may have multiple meanings, so it is important to check the context of use before you substitute. This tool is helpful in identifying alternative words to help the reader better understand the information being relayed. Remember, it might not be enough to delete jargon and substitute an everyday word in materials for the non-expert public. You may have to rewrite the entire sentence or sentences and use multiple techniques.
You can access this CDC resource here: Access ‘Everyday Words for Public Health Communication’
For more information on plain language requirements for public communication, access the Plain Writing Act.