Hospital advisory council helps make health information clear and accessible for every patient

The Patient Education Advisory Council at Dartmouth Health supports the creation of high-quality patient education materials. The PEAC includes patient volunteers, clinical staff and other employees who work in specialized subgroups. These subgroups handle different tasks: intake and review of submissions, evidence-based clinical content review, checks for design consistency and plain language, technology for publishing content, communication to raise awareness of the PEAC, and library management for storing and curating materials.

The PEAC ensures materials meet clinical best practices, health literacy standards and Dartmouth Health branding guidelines, while also being accessible on the website and electronic platforms. Patient and family advisors play a key role by reviewing documents for readability, cultural and linguistic appropriateness, and tone. They help ensure materials are easy to understand and convey compassion and empathy.

In addition to reviewing materials, the council can help create custom content, such as video scripts, or update existing documents. A dedicated webpage outlines the process for submitting documents and links to useful resources such as text readability tools and a plain language medical dictionary.

Overall, the PEAC is working to provide accurate, clear and patient-centered education that supports better health outcomes across the health system.

LEARN MORE