Table 2 Findings

Usefulness/Value

• Patient versions of guidelines can inform and empower people to ask questions.

• They can help people to anticipate what to expect when seeing a healthcare professional or having an intervention.

• They may be most useful to patients around the time of their diagnosis.

• Information about risks is most useful if directly associated with information about self management or any form of action.

• Simple diagrams and charts can communicate information clearly.

• It is helpful to flag clearly any important areas not covered by the guideline.

• Signposting to organisations that can provide help and further information is valued.

Usability

• Language should be kept as simple as possible

• User testing may help to identify how much technical information to include.

• Small font size, use of light/pale colours, and too much material on a page were major barriers to use of the guideline by this patient group.

• Clear flagging of recommendations using headings/icons works well.

• A risk of 2 in 100 was interpreted by some as very high and others as very low.

• Icons for levels of recommendation worked best when kept recognisable, with a clear link to the intended message.

• Vague or generic icons can cause confusion and be misinterpreted e.g. a blue circle can be interpreted as a zero.

• Uncertainty was effectively communicated by the “?” icon but people may not know how to respond to this information.

Credibility

• Credibility arose from information on the guideline production process, and the involvement of qualified professionals.

• The status of the guideline is important (do health services recognise the recommendations).

• Credibility may be threatened by pathways or recommendations that do not fit with the patient’s own experiences.

Desirability

• Participants were very positive about the look and feel of this patient version.

• Aspects that increased desirability included a friendly tone, simple language, chunking of text, the use of colour, glossy “high quality” look, and use of icons/images.

• A friendly feel is achieved by informal language, use of colour, and the inclusion of quotes and images/icons.

• Negative language or images, and a bureaucratic/dogmatic tone were disliked.

• Quotes can personalise the material, giving it an engaging and friendly tone, and emphasising a particular message.

Accessibility/Findability

• The brief contents page, with simple question based headings was clear and facilitated flicking to relevant sections.

• The participants were very concerned about the apparent lack of dissemination of patient versions of guidelines.

• It is important for printed copies of the guideline to be available.

• The patient version must be tailored to the intended audience’s needs (e.g. font size, language/numerical information).

• Information on how to access the services/interventions recommended is important.

• Clear branding as a patient version is required.

• Clear information on “who this booklet is for” encouraged people to read and share the guideline.

• It is important to give telephones numbers and addresses as well as websites for signposted organisations.