By Gerry Mullins, Communications Officer, National Screening Service
We recently published three new leaflets about the Diabetic RetinaScreen (DRS) programme. We worked with our stakeholders to develop this information and to get their views on how our information could be improved.
When developing the leaflets, we focused on making sure that the information is accessible to everyone aged 12 and over, and people who might not have heard about diabetic retinopathy before.
The new leaflets
- About diabetic retinopathy screening: gives information on the DRS programme, which is for people with diabetes who are aged 12 years and over.
- Your guide to digital surveillance eye screening: gives information on how the programme will closely monitor your eyes in a local screening clinic if your recent eye screening test showed changes in the back of your eye (your retina) due to diabetes.
- Your guide to 2-yearly eye screening for diabetic retinopathy: gives information on attending for a test every two years, if your last 2 screening tests showed that you have no retinopathy.
Each of our new leaflets was awarded the NALA Plain English Mark - a logo to show that our materials meet international plain English guidelines.
How we worked with our stakeholders
Working in partnership with our programme participants and the public delivers better health outcomes and we worked with screening participants, our Patient and Public Partnership (PPP) network and other stakeholders to hear what information was important to them.
We consulted with subject matter experts including the DRS programme’s Clinical Director and Programme Manager, and a diabetic nurse. We asked each of them to complete questionnaires on the existing leaflets and tell us what information they wanted to see in the new leaflets. This ensures that the content of the leaflets is clinically accurate and up to date.
Suggestions from our discussions included more use of diagrams, using simpler words and phrases and having a QR code to help people access follow-up information.
We also submitted our draft leaflets for ‘user testing’ with a panel of 22 people who participated in one-to-one interviews and focus groups. People on the panel included both younger (aged 18-35 years) and older (35+) people with diabetes; ‘gatekeepers’ (parents, partners, daughters and sons of people with diabetes); and GPs, diabetic nurses and diabetic screeners.
The panel’s views explained not only what was good about the leaflets along with suggestions for improvement, but also allowed participants to give us feedback on how people who have diabetes interact with the health service.
How to get the leaflets
- View and download them online
- Order hard copies (for health professionals)
The order codes for the three leaflets are: HSS01407, HSS01564, and HSS01406.