low-literacy med handout for coumadin

I have a home health patient whose literacy level probably does not go much beyond the 4th or 5th grade level. She had been on Coumadin after an MVI but discontinued without telling anyone and promptly ended up with a PE and another 4 days in the hospital. I've been charged with the task of explaining to her why compliance is necessary (although the PE may have done that job already). I'm fairly confident of my teaching abilities, but haven't been able to find a teaching sheet for coumadin that is quite at her level. I'm looking for something that is one page, no big words, and pretty direct with the possible consequences and the side effects to watch out for. Is there something like that out there or should I just buckle down and make one myself?

Yes, she was a suitable candidate in all other ways. She stopped the coumadin because she saw an ambulance-chaser ad on TV and was scared that something might happen to her. She's in her early 50s, has minimal support at home, but everything else is no problem. Just not the sharpest tool in the shed.

MVI = Motor Vehicle Incident

I have a home health patient whose literacy level probably does not go much beyond the 4th or 5th grade level. She had been on Coumadin after an MVI but discontinued without telling anyone and promptly ended up with a PE and another 4 days in the hospital. I've been charged with the task of explaining to her why compliance is necessary (although the PE may have done that job already). I'm fairly confident of my teaching abilities, but haven't been able to find a teaching sheet for coumadin that is quite at her level. I'm looking for something that is one page, no big words, and pretty direct with the possible consequences and the side effects to watch out for. Is there something like that out there or should I just buckle down and make one myself?

Watch TV for an hour, you're bound to see one. It goes something like this:

Picture of pills and bottles in slow-mo moving down the screen.

Voiceover: Have you or someone you love taken Coumadin and suffered a stroke?

If so, you may be eligible for a cash reward.

What your doctor doesn't tell you can hurt you.

Cut to picture of smartly-dressed-attorney-type who says something like: "Millions of patients suffer strokes after taking the dangerous blood-thinning drug, Coumadin. If this has happened to you or someone you love, you deserve to be compensated. Call our hotline right now to have your case evaluated."

Cut to picture of balance scales of justice with an overlay of the impressive name of the law firm in huge bold type along with the phone number of the hotline. But don't notice the teeny tiny print at the bottom of the page that says something to the effect that not all cases qualify and stroke is a known risk factor for coumadin administration.

The same ads come out anytime the FDA takes a new position on a drug. They were there for Fen-Phen, for Vioxx, and others I can't think of at the moment. I'm sure we'll see some ads for Tylenol soon.