5 tips for great content in Consumer Medicine Information
As the move to a new Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) format begins, now is a good time for CMI writers to look at ways we can improve the content of CMI.
Here are five of my tips. I keep coming back to these again and again.
1. Imagine the person using your CMI
Take some time to imagine who it is you are writing for. Ask yourself questions like:
- What is the person’s age and gender?
- What level of health literacy might they have?
- What kind of emotion might they be bringing to this experience? Are they likely to be anxious, overwhelmed, or ambivalent?
- How engaged might the person be in managing their condition?
- How is what I’m writing going to help them?
You might even create an avatar, an actual picture or a profile to pin up in front of you while you write, to keep the patient first in your mind.
These kinds of practices can help you adjust your tone and language level as you write.
2. Use the guidelines
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has recently published a ‘how to’ guide for writing CMI in the new format, called Consumer Medicine Information (CMI): How to use the improved CMI template. This guide springboards from Writing about medicines for people: Usability Guidelines for Consumer Medicine Information, 3rd Edition, a publication of the Communications Research Institute.
I urge you to read both of these excellent publications regularly. Have them on hand as you write. At the very least, keep these five key communication principles from the TGA ‘how to’ guide somewhere visible:
3. Start with the side effects
The side effect section of the CMI is likely to be the hardest part to write and may take you the longest. Consumers can also find this section of the CMI confronting. So you will need to be especially mindful of:
- avoiding jargon
- using plain descriptions of the physical symptoms experienced for each side effect
- correctly conveying the urgency of action following experiencing a side effect.
4. Edit well
It’s very easy to use too many words or too much jargon, or to slip into using passive voice as you write. Make sure you put your writing through a good editing process. At the very least, use an online grammar tool (or two) to check your writing. I particularly like Hemingway and Grammarly.
Even better, have another CMI writer look over your content. This can also help maintain consistency of language across your company.
5. Don’t just imagine the patient
It is very helpful to imagine the person you are writing for.
However, it is even more helpful to have a real person in front of you, using your CMI document to answer key questions about your product.
This is called “usability testing” and it is one of the best (and possibly least used) tools for improving CMI content. Writing about medicines for people: Usability Guidelines for Consumer Medicine Information has detailed instructions for usability testing.
Essentially, you devise 10 or so key questions that cover important information when using the medicine. For example:
- What is the name of the product?
- What is the product used for?
- What time of day can you take this product?
- Say you have an allergy to [x]. Can you take this product?
- What should you do if you experience [side effect] when you take this medicine?
Posing these questions in a one-to-one interview, you encourage the user to find the answers within the document (not off the top of their head or based on any prior knowledge). As you record what they say and how easily they find it, you begin to see how your CMI performs in the hands of everyday people.
Having tested a lot of CMI throughout my career, I enthusiastically recommend this process as one of the fundamental practices that promote great CMI content. You may discover:
- that content which made perfect sense to you does not make perfect sense to a consumer
- that you’ve buried important information and there’s probably a more logical place to put it
- that your language isn’t direct enough
- that your language is too direct
- that people love having access to CMI
- insights into how people use information in a variety of ways.
Most importantly, people love having a voice in the production of CMI. Consumers and writers alike leave the interview more empowered and informed.
“Most importantly, people love having a voice in the production of CMI. Consumers and writers alike leave the interview more empowered and informed.”
In summary, you can make your CMI content great (again) using my five tips:
- Keep in mind the patient or consumer.
- Follow the TGA guidelines.
- Give yourself plenty of time to perfect the side effects section.
- Edit well.
- Test with real people.
And feel free to get in touch with me. I love talking about CMI. I’m here to help you with any CMI questions you may have.
Where can I find out more?
- Consumer Medicine Information (CMI): How to use the improved CMI template
Sally Bathgate is a freelance health and medical writer with a decade of experience in research and the pharmaceutical industry in Australia.