Revising Letters to Veterans

The author, a technical communications consultant, has been helping subject-matter specialists at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) make letters for veterans easier to understand. VA specialists learn how to write for the reader, user protocol analysis to test drafts with readers, and write and revise in collaborative teams. Cued-response testing shows that veterans understand far more from the new letters than from the old letters (85% correct paraphrasing with a new letter compared to 37% correct paraphrasing with old letters). The VA regional office in Jackson, MS, concluded a retrospective study of one letter, using archival data and interviews with Veterans Benefits Counselors who answer calls from veterans. Both old and new versions of the letter had surprisingly high response and completeness rates. The difference was in the number of calls from veterans made about the two versions: averaging 1.5 calls for each old letter sent and 0.27 calls for each new letter sent. With the old letter, veterans may have only understood that they needed to do something. They had to call to find out what to do. The new letter had added value by greatly reducing support calls.