Understanding Preferences for Osteoporosis Information to Develop an Osteoporosis Patient Education Brochure

Abstract

Context: Patient education materials can provide important information related to osteoporosis prevention and treatment. However, available osteoporosis education materials fail to follow best-practice guidelines for patient education.Objective: To develop an educational brochure on bone health for adults aged 50 years and older using mixed-method, semistructured interviews.Design: This project consisted of 3 phases. In Phase 1, we developed written content that included information about osteoporosis. Additionally, we designed 2 graphic-rich brochures, Brochure A (photographs) and Brochure B (illustrations). In Phase 2, interviewers presented the text-only document and both brochure designs to 53 participants from an academic Medical Center in the Midwest and an outpatient clinic in the Southeastern region of the US. Interviewers used open-and closed-ended questions to elicit opinions regarding the brochures. In Phase 3, using feedback from Phase 2, we revised the brochure and presented it to 11 participants at a third site in the Southeastern US.Main Outcome Measures: Participants' comprehension of brochure text and acceptability of brochure design.Results: We enrolled 64 participants. Most were women, white, and college-educated, with an average age of 66.1 years. Participants were able to restate the basic content of the brochure and preferred Brochure A's use of photographs.Conclusions: Using feedback from older adults, we developed and refined a brochure for communicating bone health information to older adults at risk of osteoporosis and fragility fractures. The methods outlined in this article may serve to guide others in developing health educational brochures for chronic medical conditions.

The effects of a patient activation intervention on smoking and excessive drinking cessations: results from the PAADRN randomized controlled trial

“…Accordingly, our bone health educational brochure focused on self-efficacy and outcome expectations by providing informational accuracy, written persuasion, and emotional arousal specifically targeting the risks associated with smoking and excessive drinking. We used baseline and 12 and 52 week post-DXA interview data on the 7749 patients enrolled in the PAADRN pragmatic RCT [13–5, 19, 20] with LPMs for effect estimation. The results showed that while both the intervention and usual care groups showed meaningful declines in both the prevalence of smoking and excessive drinking over the course of the study ( p < 0.001 for both groups on both smoking and excessive drinking at both 12 and 52 weeks post-DXA), those declines in risky bone health behaviors were not significantly different between the two groups.…”

“…Intervention patients were notified of their DXA results via an individually tailored letter accompanied by an educational brochure [13–15, 19, 20]. The letter included the clinical impression of each patient’s DXA result (normal, osteopenia, or osteoporosis), their 10-year fracture risk, and the suggestion that the patient bring the letter to their next physician visit and discuss it with their provider.…”

“…This hypothesis is consistent with Bandura’s social learning theory [16–18] which states that people may learn new (or change old) behaviors by observation, imitation, and modeling, especially when those learning mechanisms capture their attention and motivate them toward the desired behavioral change. Accordingly, we focused the bone health brochure on self-efficacy and outcome expectations by providing informational accuracy, written persuasion, and emotional arousal specifically targeting the risks associated with smoking and excessive drinking [19, 20]. …”

Activating Patients With a Tailored Bone Density Test Results Letter and Educational Brochure: the PAADRN Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Intervention materials were sent from the central coordinating center (UI) about four weeks after the baseline DXA. Described elsewhere (28-30), these materials were developed using best practices in health education. The intervention letters reported the clinical impression (normal, osteopenia, or osteoporosis) and 10-year major osteoporotic fracture risk, and encouraged the patient to bring the letter to their next provider visit for discussion.…”

Evaluation of a “Just-in-Time” Nurse Consultation on Bone Health: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

“…These materials are described elsewhere. [23][24][25] The PAADRN intervention participants also received the usual KPGA mode of communicating DXA results and action steps, described in the next paragraph.…”