INFOrm4U – Patient information brochures

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INFOrm4U is a digital library of over 290 surgery specific patient information brochures covering more than 20 specialties. The brochures (which are evidence-based, patient friendly and updated annually) have been developed to aid the informed consent process and to improve the doctor-patient relationship, reduce the risk of litigation and increase patient satisfaction. They are available electronically in the open standard Portable Document Format (PDF) and can easily be printed for, or emailed to, patients. The brochures can be customised with health service logos and contact details and are available in languages other than English.

Health services licence our brochures to meet stringent regulatory requirements for consent to treatment. The key drivers are to meet the mandatory criteria imposed by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standardsⁱ (ACHS) for accreditation (i.e. Consumers / patients are informed of the consent process, and they understand and provide consent for their health care) and to follow the guidelines established by the National Health and Medical Research Councilⁱⁱ (NHMRC). It has also been shown that patient decision aids increase people’s involvement and are more likely to lead to informed values-based decisionsⁱⁱⁱ.

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

The brochures are used widely in Australia (Western Australia Department of Health, Southern Health (Victoria’s largest Health Service), Royal Hobart Hospital, Australian Department of Defence), the UK (NHS, Ramsay Health Care) and South Africa.

Each one of our brochures provides an explanation of the condition, the benefits of the procedure, any alternatives, what the procedure involves, what the patient can do to help make the operation a success, the potential complications and the post-operative expectations.

Each INFOrm4U brochure has an expiry date as we recognise that the medico-legal environment is changing, surgical techniques are being continually improved and evidence-based data needs to be kept up to date. The INFOrm4U brochures are therefore updated annually by our Editorial Board to ensure that they remain current and relevant in the clinical environment. The brochures are complemented by high quality illustrations and also direct patients to vetted sources of further information relevant to their condition.

Each one of our brochures is written by a specialist in the field and goes through a rigorous development process that includes incorporating consent guidelines from regulatory bodies. Our brochures are evidence-based and fully referenced and only high quality sources of evidence are used to support the key statements in the brochures. Typical evidence sources include ANZDATA, the Melbourne Vascular Surgical Audit Program, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Cochrane library, Medline and CINAHL.

The Plain English Campaign (PEC) is an independent group fighting for plain English in public communication and is an integral part of the brochure development process. They oppose gobbledygook, jargon and legalese. INFOrm4U brochures are only released once they have been given a unique PEC Crystal Mark. This means that each brochure is written in language that the intended audience can understand and act upon from a single reading.

i. EQuIP5 Standards and Criteria. NSW : The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), 2010

ii. General Guidelines for Medical Practitioners on Providing Information to Patients. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council, 2004

Communicating with Patients Advice for medical practitioners. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council, 2004

iii. O’Connor AM, Stacey D, Entwhistle V, Llewellyn- Thomas H, Rovner D, Holmes-Rovner M, Tait V, Tetroe J, Fiset V, Barry M & Jones J (2003), Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD001431. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001431.