Every state has a department of health website, but does everyone know how to access and use the information that is available on that site? Assume the role of a health care manager, responsible for patient education. Identify and familiarize yourself with your Louisiana state’s department of health website. DQ
The deliverable is a handout, not an essay. That means the audience's reading level, not your analysis of the website, is what the assignment is really assessing.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 23, 2026
A handout is a different object from an essay
The brief says format the user guide as an informational handout and focus on the content of the handout, which quietly changes what you are being graded on. This is not an analysis of a website; it is a document a patient will hold, and everything follows from that. Write at a reading level well below your own, use short numbered steps, name what the patient will actually see on the screen rather than describing the information architecture, and anticipate the point where they get lost, which on most government sites is the second click. Avoid the instinct to explain how the site is organised, because a patient does not need a mental model of the department, they need to find whether their child's immunisations are recorded. Decide the population before you open the site, because the same page looks different depending on who you are reading it for.
The phrase applicable to your patient population appears twice, and it is the instruction that makes the handout specific rather than generic. Define the population before you start: a rural primary care panel, an urban Medicaid clinic, an antenatal service, an older adult practice. That decision determines which primary categories matter, and it lets you cut everything else, which is the most useful thing a guide can do. For a maternal and child health panel the relevant paths are immunisation records, WIC eligibility, birth certificate requests and vital records; for an older adult panel it is long-term care facility ratings, licensing complaints and emergency preparedness registries. Then check your navigation instructions by actually following them, because state health department sites are reorganised often and a handout whose steps do not work is worse than none at all. Print it and hand it to someone outside health care before you submit it.
Likely learning objectives
- Write for a patient audience at an appropriate reading level.
- Define a patient population and let it determine what the guide covers.
- Give navigation steps in terms of what appears on screen.
- Verify instructions by following them before publishing.
Assignment instructions
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Every state has a department of health website but does everyone know how to access and use the information that is available on that site? Assume the role of a health care manager responsible for patient education. Identify and familiarize yourself with your Louisiana state’s department of health website. DQ Every state has a department of health website, but does everyone know how to access and use the information that is available on that site? Assume the role of a health care manager, responsible for patient education. Identify and familiarize yourself with your Louisiana state’s department of health website. Include the link to the site in your post. Create a “user guide” for patients to assist in searching for important health issues through their department of health’s website. Include information on navigating to the following areas of the site: Primary categories of information applicable to your patient population. Subcategories of information applicable to your patient population. Format the user guide as an informational handout and be sure to focus on the content of the handout. Create and submit your file as a Microsoft Word or Publisher document.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
What the user guide has to contain
- 01The link to your state department of health website included in the post.
- 02A user guide for patients to assist in searching for health issues through the site.
- 03Information on navigating to the primary categories applicable to your patient population.
- 04Information on navigating to the relevant subcategories.
- 05The guide formatted as an informational handout, submitted as a Word or Publisher document.
Define the population, then walk the navigation
The population this guide serves
Define the patient group and what they typically need from the site.
What the assessor is likely looking for
A population specific enough to exclude most of the site.
Getting to the site
Give the address and what the patient sees on arrival.
What the assessor is likely looking for
The first screen described as the patient encounters it.
Primary categories that matter
Walk the top-level sections relevant to this population.
What the assessor is likely looking for
Selection justified by the population, not comprehensiveness.
Subcategories and specific tasks
Give numbered steps for two or three common tasks.
What the assessor is likely looking for
Steps that name on-screen labels.
What to do when stuck
Provide the search box, phone number and alternative route.
What the assessor is likely looking for
A recovery path, which most guides omit.
Layout and readability
Set out the handout's headings, spacing and reading level choices.
What the assessor is likely looking for
Design decisions made for a patient reader.
Where health literacy guidance sits
Recommended databases
- Louisiana Department of Health
- ODPHP
- AHRQ
- MedlinePlus
Search sequence
- 1.Open the state site and complete two real tasks before writing anything.
- 2.Read the health literacy web guidance for how patients scan pages.
- 3.Check the universal precautions toolkit for plain-language standards.
- 4.Look up the national health literacy objectives for the justification section.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Health Literacy Online
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion · 2024
Health Literacy Online, for how patients actually read and scan health websites.
AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality · 2024
The universal precautions toolkit, for plain-language and teach-back standards.
Health Literacy in Healthy People 2030
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 2025
National health literacy objectives, for why the handout matters.
MedlinePlus
National Library of Medicine · 2025
A worked example of consumer health navigation, useful as a design model.
Delivering Patient-Centered Care With Respect to Patient Education and Health Literacy in Athletic Training Job Settings
PMC / National Library of Medicine · 2025
Patient education and health literacy in practice, for the audience assumptions.
Before you submit the handout
Common mistakes
- Writing an analysis of the website rather than a handout for patients.
- Leaving the patient population undefined, which makes the guide cover everything.
- Describing the site's structure instead of what the user clicks.
- Writing at a professional reading level.
- Giving navigation steps that no longer match the live site.
Submission checklist
- Have you named the patient population the guide serves?
- Is every step written as something to click or type?
- Have you followed your own instructions on the live site?
- Is the reading level appropriate for patients?
- Is the deliverable a handout rather than a paper?
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read Brinevia's academic-integrity policy.
Written by
Maren Caldwell
MSN, RN, CNE
Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation
Maren is a registered nurse with over 15 years of clinical and educational experience in medical-surgical nursing. She writes on NCLEX preparation, patient care fundamentals, pharmacology and evidence-based practice.
Reviewed by
Dr. Tessa Redmond
DNP, RN, CNE
Evidence-based practice and clinical education
Tessa is a doctorally-prepared nurse educator. She reviews Brinevia content for clinical accuracy and alignment with current evidence-based guidelines.