Previous research has identified the following types of information as the information that patients want to know (Clayman et al. 2008; Dey 2004; Rosenthal 2007; Timmins 2005; Winkelman 2005) :
- Disease entity information (what is the disease?)
- Time information (how does it progress?)
- Self-information (why me?)
- Self-disease (what will happen)
- Self-disease-time (how will my condition change?
Vermeire has suggested that where information matches the patient’s specific information needs, the patient is more likely to adhere to treatment (Vermeire et al. 2001; Vermeire et al. 2003b). A three-decade, comprehensive review of patient adherence by Vermeire et al. determined that information-based approaches influence the behaviour of people who have a chronic condition when the communication recognises patient-specific information needs.
Regardless of the content of the information that needs to be communicated, it is imperative to consider the communication tools used in delivering this information to health consumers and the communication formats of this information.