New patient welcome kits to provide patients with easy-to-read information

Coming to hospital can be a challenging event for many patients. Metro North is always looking for ways to improve this patient experience.

Working with key stakeholders, Metro North has developed a new patient information resource which is designed to be inclusive and accessible.

The new welcome kit is written in ‘easy English’ and includes pictographs and illustrations.

For the Director of Multicultural Health Jason Cochrane, the welcome kit will be helpful for a variety of patient groups.

“By using easy to understand language, simple sentence structure and meaningful pictures, the resource is suitable for many patients including the aged, those living with a disability and those with lower literacy levels,” said Jason.

The resource covers important information such as how to keep yourself safe during your hospital stay, informed consent, patient healthcare rights and Ryan’s rule.

In addition to the ‘easy English’ version the resource will also be available in seven languages, including Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Italian, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.

“Metro North is Australia’s largest and most diverse public hospital and health services with over 30% of people in Brisbane North not born in Australia and 20.5% of people speaking a language other than English at home”, Jason explains.

“Having the resource available for patients that communicate in languages other than English will hopefully make these patients feel more welcome and improve their understanding of our health care system.”

“By offering targeted services that meet the needs of our communities, we aim to improve the health and wellbeing of many of our vulnerable patient groups in our region.”