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Purpose: A Dilemma facing many healthcare providers is how to systematically analyze the appropriateness of patient educational materials, whether in printed materials, video, audiotapes, software or electronic formats. Mosivais and Reynolds (2002) reported that more than 23 million adults in the United States do not understand the instructions or educational materials proveded by healthcare providers. Therefore, the selection of appropriate patient educational materials is imperative to assist the individual to comply with treatment regimens, make informed healthcare decisions, manage chronic illness or seek preventive services. The purpose of this poster presentation is to describe the developmental process for a new instrument that will assist the healthcare professional to select appropriated educational material. Method: PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and PsychoInfo databases were searched for the last 20 years to identify research studies and articles related to evaluation of patient educational materials. Reference lists of the obtained articles were reviewed in addition to a search of the World Wide Web. Findings: As a result of the literature review, an instrument was developed containing seven main criterion which were subdivided into specific evaluation criteria that are rated on a scale from "0" (criteria not met) to "3" (criteria met superiorly). The instrument has undergone revisions based on evaluation of content validity by a panel of experts, pre-testing by convenience sample of three nurse experts and two pilot studies. Results of the initial psychometric testing and plans for future evaluation will be presented. Discussion: The selection of the most appropriate patient educational material is imperative for healthcare professionals to assist the client to comply with treatment regimens and make informed healthcare decisions. Further psychometric testing and instrument refinement are essential in order for the Educational Material Evaluation Scoring Sheet to be used satisfactorily by healthcare providers in determining the most suitable patient educational materials.