Evaluation of Occupational Therapy Pre-Discharge Home Visit Information Leaflets for Older Adults

Abstract

Purpose: This study evaluated the use, quality and readability levels of occupational therapists' pre-discharge home visit information leaflets. Method: One hundred and twelve surveys were sent via email to occupational therapists working with older people. The International Patient Decision Aids Standards and the SMOG Readability Formula were used to analyse five occupational therapy home visit leaflets, supplied by the 11 occupational therapists who responded to the survey. Results: The five leaflets had low scores in relation to providing unbiased and detailed information. In addition, the reading level of the information leaflets was, on average, four grades higher than the recommended level. Conclusion: Therapists need to ensure that the information within home visit leaflets is relevant, evidence based, and targeted at the correct readability level.