Evaluating Patient Education Materials for Grade Level

Patients are often given patient education documents to take home with them when they leave the hospital. It is important that these documents be at an appropriate grade level since some patients have low health literacy and may be unable to read the materials given to them. Evaluators can use readability tools to assess their patient education materials and make sure they are at a sixth- to eighth-grade reading level. The hospital librarian can play a large role in identifying the grade level of patient education materials.