Development of a Pictorial Patient Education Handout on Tracheostomy Care: A Mixed-Method Study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Communication
• Patient Education Materials

Background:

• Patient education handouts are crucial for tracheostomy care.
• Developing effective, user-friendly visual aids presents challenges.
• Existing tools for evaluating pictorial health information are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and iterative revision of pictorial patient education handouts for tracheostomy care.
• To introduce and validate a new evaluation tool, the Perceived Infographics Usability Measurement (PIUM), for pictorial health information.
• To assess the usability and effectiveness of the developed tracheostomy care infographics.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative and quantitative approach using iterative user-centered design.
• Involved health professional, patient, and family caregiver panels.
• Developed and validated the Perceived Infographics Usability Measurement (PIUM) tool.

Main Results:

• The tracheostomy care infographic achieved high usability consensus (88.3% health professionals, 89.1% patients/caregivers) via PIUM.
• Patients and caregivers found the handouts understandable and helpful for procedure reminders and fear alleviation.
• The PIUM tool demonstrated satisfactory content validity and reliability.

Conclusions:

• Pictorial patient education handouts, developed through user-centered design, are effective for tracheostomy care.
• The PIUM is a valuable tool for evaluating and guiding the creation of pictorial patient education materials.
• User-friendly infographics can improve patient and caregiver understanding and confidence in managing tracheostomy care.