Easy to Read Health Education Material Improves Oral Health Literacy of Older Adults in Rural Community-Based Care Centers: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Health education increases older adults’ health knowledge and affects their health out-
comes. Older adults have physical changes with aging, such as blurred vision and cognitive decline.
Therefore, health education materials must be legible in their case. This study, following the “easy
(EZ) to read” concept, designed oral health education material and tested the learning effectiveness
of older adults in rural community-based care centers in central Taiwan. Three of the communities
were provided EZ to read health education material (n = 72), while three were given general text
material (n = 57) as the control group. We collected pre-test and post-test scores using the Mandarin
version of the oral health literacy adult questionnaire (MOHL-AQ). The demographic background
of the EZ to read and general text groups showed no significant difference (p > 0.05). Analysis of
covariance (ANCOVA) showed that the EZ to read material significantly improved total scores of
oral health literacy (p < 0.001). The chi-square test showed a significant improvement in oral health
literacy levels (p < 0.001). We suggest applying EZ to read concepts to widen the field of older adult
education and to reduce illegibility-induced health knowledge disparities.