A book? A magazine? A text? Or a webpage? Whether you turn pages or click buttons, chances are you take in information every day by reading.
Literacy is a human right. It empowers people to understand. But many individuals or communities lack literacy skills, for various different reasons.
Here at Macmillan, we want to reach every single person affected by cancer with our support and information. So we’re always thinking about making our information accessible to everyone.
For people with learning disabilities
On our website be.Macmillan, you can order accessible books produced by an organisation called Change. Change is a national human rights organisation led by disabled people. They produce accessible information for people with learning disabilities using straightforward language and images.
They have three books about cancer, and each book is produced as two separate resources, one for the person with learning disabilities and one for their carer.
Other formats
On be.Macmillan you can order all the information you need in a format to suit you – there are booklets, audio books and booklets in other languages. Our information covers cancer types, treatments, practical aspects of living with cancer and financial issues. If you need a Braille, large print or audio version of anything on be.Macmillan, just call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 and we’ll do our best to get one out to you.
Reading up on stats – the general population
And that’s just considering general literacy – health literacy is even more difficult.
Intramuscularly medicine PRN for the upper right quadrant pain
What?
Well, we’re not all doctors or experts in medical jargon! Cancer is a complicated topic, and taking in information can be hard when you’re facing cancer and all the worries that it brings. Whoever you are, we want to help you make sense of it all and hopefully give you back some sense of control. That’s why our team works really hard to explain cancer in a way that everyone can understand, without being patronising or skipping out any of the detail. So for easy-to-read, clear information about cancer, you can trust us. Visit macmillan.org.uk/cancerinformation or to order any free resources, go to be.macmillan.org.uk
Here’s what Mary had to say about the importance of clear information:
* http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/adult_literacy/illiterate_adults_in_england
** http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/02/socialexclusion.adultliteracy
