PLAIN-LANGUAGE MEDICATION INFORMATION SHEETS

Why Every Medication Information Sheet Should Be Written in Plain Language

Written by Tina J. Benoit, MPH

Founder & CEO, Global RESTART Solutions (GRS)

August 2026

Imagine leaving your healthcare provider’s office with a new prescription. You go to the pharmacy to pick up your new medication, and along with it comes a sheet of paper filled with medical jargon, technical information about your prescription, long paragraphs, small, difficult-to-read print, and warnings that seem overwhelming.

Amid all this information, you may still struggle to find answers to some of the questions that matter most: What side effects should I expect? Which ones could be serious? Are there precautions I should take while using this medication?

To make matters worse, some important information may be difficult to locate within dense or lengthy text.

For many people, this information is difficult to understand—not because they lack intelligence, but because the information may not have been designed with clear communication and ease of understanding in mind.

Understanding your medication shouldn’t require a medical degree.

When medication information is difficult to understand, patients may misinterpret instructions about how to take their medication or may not fully understand potential side effects and safety precautions.¹ Language and health literacy barriers can contribute to difficulty understanding medication instructions and have been associated with medication errors, poorer health outcomes, and increased healthcare costs.²Patients who do not fully understand what to expect from a medication may also have difficulty making informed decisions about its safe and appropriate use.

Simply providing health information is not enough. It must also be understandable and usable.

The Hidden Challenge of Medication Information

Medication information sheets contain important information about the safe and appropriate use of medications. However, the way that information is presented can sometimes make it difficult for patients to find and understand what they need to know.

Common challenges may include:

Medical jargon unfamiliar to the general public
Long, complex sentences
Technical or medical terminology without clear explanations
Small or difficult-to-read text
Dense formatting
Information that may be difficult for people with limited English proficiency or other health literacy challenges to understand

For many people, navigating this type of information can feel like trying to understand another language.

Plain Language Saves More than Time

Plain language does not mean oversimplifying medical information or removing important details. It means communicating accurate information in a way that people can understand and use.

Health information should be designed so that as many people as possible can understand and use it.

Effective plain-language medication sheets should:

Explain why a medication is prescribed
Describe how and when to take it
Clearly explain common side effects and when to seek medical attention
Highlight important drug interactions and precautions
Use everyday words whenever possible
Organize information using headings, bullet points, and white space
Include visuals or infographics when appropriate

Clear, understandable medication information can help patients better understand instructions and make informed decisions about their medication use.

Language Access Is Part of Patient Safety

Across the United States, millions of individuals speak English less than “very well.”³ Even the clearest English document may not meet the needs of someone who has difficulty understanding English. Limited literacy can create an additional barrier, regardless of the language a person speaks.

Providing medication information only in English—or in a language the patient does not fully understand—can create barriers to safe medication use.

High-quality translation involves much more than replacing words in one language with words in another. Medical information should remain accurate while also being clear, linguistically appropriate, culturally responsive, and easy to understand for the intended audience.

This is where plain language, health literacy, and language access come together.

How Global RESTART Solutions (GRS) Makes Complex Information Easier to Understand

At Global RESTART Solutions (GRS), we believe that clear communication is an important part of effective public health practice. We help transform complex medical and public health information into practical, easy-to-understand educational resources without compromising scientific accuracy.

Our services include:

Plain-language medication information sheets
Multilingual patient education materials
Health literacy reviews
Translation, interpretation, and localization services
Community education resources
Infographics and visual communication tools
Culturally responsive health education materials
Graphic design and educational resource development

Whether the audience is patients, healthcare providers, public health agencies and other government agencies, nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, or community partners, our goal is always the same: to help make important information understandable and actionable.

GRS brings together expertise in public health, epidemiology, health literacy, language access, cultural responsiveness, graphic design, and educational resource development. This multidisciplinary approach helps bridge the gap between technical and scientific information and the people who need to understand and use it.

Better Communication Leads to Better Health

Health equity includes access to clear, understandable, and usable information. Patients should have medication information that is accurate, easy to understand, and available in a language and format that meets their needs.

Complex medical information does not have to be difficult to comprehend. With thoughtful design, plain language, language access, and culturally responsive communication, complex information can become more accessible and useful to the people it is intended to serve. When people can understand and use health information, it becomes a powerful tool for improving lives.

Clear health information can also help patients make informed decisions and participate more meaningfully in their own care.

About Global RESTART Solutions

Global RESTART Solutions (GRS) is an integrated consulting firm specializing in public health strategy, language access, data, and design. GRS partners with healthcare organizations, public health agencies and other government agencies, nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations, community partners, and the private sector to strengthen systems, improve access to information and services, and turn complex information into clear, practical solutions that support meaningful and lasting impact.

Our multidisciplinary services include public health consulting, interpretation and translation, data analysis and visualization, GIS mapping, graphic design, and web design.

GRS also develops practical, easy-to-understand health education tools for individuals and communities. Our growing collection of plain-language medication information sheets and other medication management tools is available through the GRS Store. These resources are designed to make important information easier to understand and use.

If your organization needs support developing patient-friendly educational materials, improving the readability of existing health information, developing multilingual resources, or translating complex medical information into plain language, GRS can help.

From data to design, and from complex health information to plain language, GRS helps bridge the gap between information and understanding.