A rapid appraisal method for the selection and pre-testing of environmental health leaflets

This paper presents a rapid appraisal method for the selection and pre-testing of printed leaflets on environmental health issues. The method combines a staff questionnaire, a readability test and a target population survey and is designed to aid leaflet selection in a way which is practically feasible yet retaining an acceptable level of face validity. A multiple, embedded case study was used to field-test the method and the feedback from this is discussed. The results suggest that the method has the potential to replace ad hoc arrangements by the gatekeepers and make the selection of leaflets more a matter of structured decision-making involving representatives of all the stake-holders.