Northwell: Patient Education Resources: Home

Northwell / ZSOM
Patient education resources in 19 languages.

Northwell / ZSOM
Patient education resources in 19 languages.

Northwell / ZSOM
Patient education materials available on each condition page in the "Patient information" section.

This collaborative effort from central Ohio provides plain language health information resources for healthcare professionals and others working in communities where English may not be the primary language.

Northwell / ZSOM
Lexicomp develops patient education to help healthcare professionals enhance compliance and reduce readmissions by providing patients with a wide range of easy-to-read information (written at a 5th–7th grade reading level) about their condition, treatments, and overall health. The patient education handouts support the teach-back method. They are available in up to 20 languages and can be customized with the patient's name and clinician information.

Northwell / ZSOM
Includes adult and pediatric versions in 10 languages.

Repository of health information from the National Library of Medicine. Offers information on health conditions, medical tests, medications, dietary supplements, and healthy recipes, sourced from more than 1600 selected organizations.

Freely available consumer health information in 13 languages.

Northwell / ZSOM
Developed in-house and edited by the same physicians who edit UpToDate medical topics, UpToDate patient education topics provide information that is consistent with the evidence-based content that clinicians use to make clinical decisions. UpToDate provides more than 1,500 patient education topics, plus more than 1,000 translated into universal Spanish and Arabic, that facilitate clinician-patient communication.

Vital Documents are forms that provide critical information to patients communicated in their preferred language. Vital Documents are used to ensure effective communication with patients whose primary language is not English.

The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) is a systematic method to evaluate and compare the understandability and actionability of patient education materials. It is designed as a guide to help determine whether patients will be able to understand and act on information. Separate tools are available for use with print and audiovisual materials.

The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) developed and continues to revise The Federal Plain Language Guidelines to provide updated advice on clear communication.

Everyday Words for Public Health Communication offers expert recommendations from CDC's Health Literacy Council and other agency communicators on how to reduce jargon and improve reader understanding. You can search for public health jargon or plain language words and find alternatives and example sentences.

Interested in health literacy and health equity topics? Check out our health equity guide for more information.

Learn more about communicating medical stories visually through graphic medicine.