Print material content and design: is it relevant to effectiveness?

Printed materials are widely used in cancer education. There are a considerable number of guidelines in the literature on the content and design characteristics of print materials. However, there is little outcome-based evidence about whether materials containing these characteristics are more effec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health education research 2003-04, Vol.18 (2), p.181-190
Main Authors: Paul, C. L., Redman, S., Sanson-Fisher, R. W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Australia
Cancer
Chi-Square Distribution
Content analysis
Design
Effectiveness
Female
Females
Health education
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health technology assessment
Humans
Leaflets
Middle Aged
Older women
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Patient Education
Patient Education as Topic - methods
Predictors
Reading Materials
Teaching Materials - standards
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control
Vaginal Smears
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Summary:Printed materials are widely used in cancer education. There are a considerable number of guidelines in the literature on the content and design characteristics of print materials. However, there is little outcome-based evidence about whether materials containing these characteristics are more effective under real-world conditions. Six pamphlets were designed such that two had most of these characteristics, one had content characteristics only, one had design characteristics only and two had few of the characteristics. The pamphlets encouraged women aged 50–69 years to join a Pap Test Reminder Service (PTRS). The pamphlets were mailed to a randomly selected sample of 7668 women. Registrations with the PTRS were monitored. Receipt, readership, acceptability, knowledge and attitudes were assessed by telephone interview. There were no significant differences between the pamphlet groups in registrations with the PTRS, receipt, readership, acceptability, knowledge or attitudes. It was concluded that the inclusion of content and design characteristics does not result in more effective print materials.
ISSN:0268-1153
1465-3648
1465-3648
DOI:10.1093/her/18.2.181