The need to embrace brevity in writing less but saying more

When I was a young lad (which to be honest was a long time ago now) I can remember enjoying reading a little magazine called the Reader’s Digest. I think my father had it on subscription, but in any event this half-size magazine was always around in the house. It’s still going strong too. Originally published in the US, today it is published in more than 70 countries, 121 languages, and enjoys an annual global circulation of some 10.5 million. In a world of online media, still having such a large paid for circulation is remarkable.  

When the Reader’s Digest first started in 1922, it comprised just 30 articles and a range of ‘filler’ pages that featured things like ‘Humour in Uniform’ and ‘Amusing Anecdotes’. There was one such ‘filler’ page that I grew to love above all else, and that was the ‘Word Power’ feature. In this column, some of the most obscure words were presented along with their meanings. I think my love of words grew from years of reading these explanations. The catchphrase associated with this column was: ‘it pays to improve your word power’. It was a very popular feature, and today the contemporary version of Word Power can be found here. Take a look (or perhaps closely consider/examine this website). 

The Reader’s Digest was also a powerful force for health promotion and public health issues. Way back in 1952, (not long before I was born) they published a series of articles called ‘Cancer by the Carton’. These articles linked smoking with lung cancer for the first time, something in the US in particular, the general public had largely ignored. Although it’s not the Reader’s Digest, the NHS Choices website has always been good at presenting health and wellbeing advice in an easy to understand format. As part of a digital improvement plan, NHS Choices is being renamed as simply ‘the NHS website’. If you haven’t already, take a look (or perhaps closely consider/examine this website). 

It seems that last week was a good week for making sure we all use words that most of us can understand. Following a long period of consultation, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges published guidance on how doctors of all persuasions could improve the effectiveness of their communication with patients by writing letters to them and copying in the patient’s GP instead of the other way around. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well, if I have not said it before, take a look (or perhaps closely consider/examine this website). 

To my mind, the guidance has the potential to be transformational when put into practice. The guidance is absolutely jam-packed (extravagantly voluminous and plethoric and bounteous) with examples of how not to write using the more familiar and traditional approach, and how a more person-centred approach might be adopted. Everything is included, from to how to explain medical conditions without using technical medical terms or abbreviations; how to give instructions as to how often to take medication without relying on Latin instructions; and even how to break bad news or discuss difficult treatment options. Whoever is responsible for pulling together this guidance has done a fantastic (extraordinarily impressively and phenomenally good) job. There are even specimen letters showing the difference between writing to a fellow GP and reframing the same letter to send to the patient.

The result is startling, and if the guidance is implemented, I am sure it will result in many benefits. Patients are likely to gain a greater understanding of their condition, and what, if anything the treatment might involve. Person-centred letter writing might also be a really good way of promoting healthy life choices, informing people of where and how they might better help themselves. Based upon my mother’s experience, who goes to the doctor and her local hospital on a regular basis, but can never remember what the doctors have said, I think there is something else worthwhile in this guidance. As my fellow blogger and communications expert J might say, it’s about not just hearing the message, but understanding what is being said as well.  

  

Of course, just because some great guidance has been developed and published, it does not follow that change will happen overnight. The consultation showed there were very different (divergent, disparate and antithetical) views held by many medical colleagues over what was the appropriate way to communicate their findings to other doctors and patients. However, the continued pressure to provide person-centred health care is likely to result in this guidance featuring on University curricula and practice-based learning experiences in the very near future. I hope so. There are some five million outpatient visits each month in England. Every one of these appointments will require a letter, making outpatient clinic letters the most written letters in the NHS. The Reader’s Digest readership, good as it is,’ pales into insignificance in comparison to these numbers. However, let’s hope doctors can benefit from the Reader’s Digest experience, and learn to write in a way that equally connects with what should be their readership – that is the patient.