The lack of compliance in the home setting is one of the concerns for the community and public health nurses. Harry McLaughlin developed the SMOG formula in 1969 and published it in a New Readability Formula Journal (“The SMOG Readability Formula”, n.d.). The idea was that the complexity of the text in the public health sector is most affected by complex words with many syllables. The final SMOG grade formula took into account the number of polysyllabic words, with three or more syllables, and the number of sentences. In fact, this is an estimate of the proportion of compound words to the number of sentences.
Nowadays, the SMOG formula is most used in assessing the complexity of medical texts, and in recent studies, it showed greater accuracy compared to other methods (Brangan, 2015). The instructions I may have given to a client when he or she is discharged from the hospital or emergency room would follow the pattern provided by the SMOG formula. For example, while writing instructions for individuals without higher education, I will use simple words that contain fewer syllables. At the same time, I will use more complex words and sentences for individuals with a Master’s degree or a Ph.D. level. Overall, I will ensure that the readability level of the instructions responds to the educational level of clients.
Finally, I will make sure that it is easy for the client to follow the instructions when at home. To ensure it, I will write the instructions in such a way that the readability score will be between 7.00-8.00 in compliance with the SMOG formula (“The SMOG Readability Test”, n.d.). Accordingly, it is highly recommended for the community and public health nurses to apply the SMOG formula in order to ensure compliance in home settings.
References
Brangan, S. (2015). Development of SMOG readability formula for healthcare communication and patient education. Collegium Antropologicum, 39(1), 11-20.
The SMOG Readability Formula, a Simple Measure of Gobbledygook. (n.d.). Web.
The “SMOG” Readability Test. (n.d.). Web.