From Complexity to Inclusivity: A Methodology for Drafting Patient-Centered Explanations of Gut-Brain Axis Concepts

Vanessa Bonato, Federica Vezzani, Giorgio Maria Di Nunzio


Abstract
Understanding specialized biomedical knowledge can be particularly challenging, posing significant barriers to the acquisition and use of medical information especially by patients. In this study, a methodology for drafting patient-centered explanations of concepts related to the gut-brain axis and related medical conditions is proposed. The explanations are specifically intended for patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases, who are experiencing cognitive decline. The methodology consists of the following steps: 1) the drafting of specialized definitions in the form of intensional definitions, which enable the structured representation of domain-specific knowledge, and 2) the simplification of specialized definitions into patient-centered explanations. In particular, explanations intended for patients are formulated using popular terms and plain language, considered as two complementary strategies aimed at enhancing the comprehension of specialized biomedical knowledge. This work lays the foundation for the future development of a terminology resource specifically designed to collect and systematically represent knowledge related to the gut-brain axis and associated health conditions.
Anthology ID:
2026.determit-1.4
Volume:
Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Evaluating Text Difficulty in a Multilingual Context (DeTermIt! 2026)
Month:
May
Year:
2026
Address:
Palma, Mallorca (Spain)
Editors:
Giorgio Maria Di Nunzio, Federica Vezzani, Liana Ermakova, Hosein Azarbonyad, Jaap Kamps
Venues:
DeTermIt | WS
SIG:
Publisher:
ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)
Note:
Pages:
33–41
Language:
External URL:
https://lrec.elra.info/lrec2026-ws-determit-04
DOI:
10.63317/29jou5bnmqof
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Vanessa Bonato, Federica Vezzani, and Giorgio Maria Di Nunzio. 2026. From Complexity to Inclusivity: A Methodology for Drafting Patient-Centered Explanations of Gut-Brain Axis Concepts. In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Evaluating Text Difficulty in a Multilingual Context (DeTermIt! 2026), pages 33–41, Palma, Mallorca (Spain). ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA).
Cite (Informal):
From Complexity to Inclusivity: A Methodology for Drafting Patient-Centered Explanations of Gut-Brain Axis Concepts (Bonato et al., DeTermIt 2026)
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