Making medicine information easier to understand
When you get medicine, it comes with information.
This information tells you:
- what the medicine is for
- how to take it
- things to look out for
- when to get help.
Sometimes this information is hard to understand.
This can make it difficult for people to make choices about their health.
Inclusion North is working with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
We are helping improve medicine information.
We want:
- people with a learning disability
- autistic people
- family carers
- and other people with lived experience
to help decide what good information looks like.
We think information should:
- be easy to understand
- be available in different formats
- help people make informed choices
- be designed with the people who will use it.
This work will help improve medicine information for people across the country.
Making medicines information work for everyone
When you receive a medicine, you should be able to understand what it is, how to take it safely and what to do if you have any questions. For many people, this information is provided in a Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) inside the medicine box.
However, for many people—including people with a learning disability, autistic people, people with low literacy, people whose first language isn’t English and others—this information can be difficult to access and understand.
That’s why Inclusion North is proud to be involved in the national Improving Patient Information (IPI) programme, led by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Our role is to ensure that people with lived experience help shape the future of medicines information. We believe people should not only be consulted but should play an active role in designing information that is accessible, meaningful and useful.
This work is about much more than creating Easy Read versions of leaflets. It is about understanding how different people access information, what barriers they face and how information can be made available in ways that work for everyone. This includes considering digital information alongside paper leaflets, as well as formats such as Easy Read, audio, British Sign Language and other accessible approaches.
At Inclusion North, we know that accessible information helps people make informed decisions about their own health. When people understand their medicines, they are better able to take them safely, ask questions and be involved in decisions about their care.
We are working alongside national partners to ensure lived experience remains at the heart of this programme, helping shape the future of medicines information so that it is accessible, inclusive and designed with the people who use it.
