Tell a Story To Engage People in a Health Care Quality Report
If possible, your “front” page can also include a brief vignette that highlights one of the key messages you are trying to get across in more human and concrete terms. A story is an effective way to engage your readers emotionally and mentally.
Here are a few examples of story topics:
- How using the report made a difference in the quality of care a particular community member received.
- A problem a patient faced because she didn’t check out the performance of a particular facility.
A story can be as simple as a photograph and a quote from a patient. Massachusetts Health Quality Partners, for example, includes quotes from consumers on the home page of its quality report: http://healthcarecompassma.org/. Of course, if you use a photograph and someone’s name, you must have explicit written permission.
When space is an issue, move the stories to a separate part of the report. Direct users to them by providing a link in a Web-based report or the page number in a print report.
