Exploring plain language guidelines

Based on the last National Assessment of Adult Literacy survey (2003) conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Educational Statistics, an estimated 43% (93 million) of the U.S. adults age 16 and older has below or basic literacy skills . Many government agencies adopt a policy of using plain language guidelines when preparing documents for the public. This study used the Delphi Technique to explore how government health communication professionals (n =11) define “plain language” and what they consider to be the main guidelines for writing in “plain language.” Participants agreed on only six plain language items throughout the study: (1) Write for audience's level of understanding of the subject matter, (2) Write for the literacy level of the target population, (3) Present information in a logical order, (4) Use simple sentence structure, (5) Define unfamiliar concepts, and (6) Use correct grammar and sentence structure. No standard exists on how to write in plain language for health care documents, which may be why health communicators have varied ideas on what plain language means and what guidelines should be followed.