Health Literacy and Health Promotion: What Providers Need to Know

1. Health Literacy and Health Promotion:What Providers Need to Know Jeanne M. Burke, Education Coordinator for CU Health Sciences Library/LRC Siobhan Champ-Blackwell, Community Outreach Librarian

2. Credits • American Medical Association Health Literacy Toolkit • Weiss, Barry D. Health literacy and patient safety: help patients understand: manual for clinicians, 2nd edition

3. Objectives Participants will be able to: • Describe the scope of low health literacy in the populations of patients they serve. • Evaluate a patient’s health literacy level and assess the appropriateness of education materials offered to that patient. • Incorporate strategies and techniques for communicating with patients with low health literacy into practice. • Adapt communication styles to more effectively respond to needs of patients with low health literacy.

4. Health Literacy “the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions and follow instructions for decisions and follow instructions for treatment” Committee of Health Literacy, Institute of Medicine OCTOBER IS HEALTH LITERACY MONTH!

5. Impact of Low Health Literacy • The inability to read and understand health information leads to poor health outcomes • Literacy is one of the strongest predictors of health status! • This impact translates into higher medical costs as well • Medication errors • Longer hospital stays • More use of ER • Higher level of illness in general

6. Health Literacy Levels and Scope • Proficient – 13% • Intermediate – 53% • Basic – 22% • Below Basic – 14% The Health Literacy of America’s Adults Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy.

7. Highest Risk • Elderly • Low Income • Unemployed • Less than High School education • Minority Ethnic Group • Recent Immigrant • English as a Second Language You can’t tell by looking, and most patients will not tell you or family members.

8. Legal Impact • Patient – Physician Relationship implies that the physician has a duty to fully disclose in good faith and general terms the risks and benefits of treatment. • Informed Consent: Process of educating the patient so they understand diagnosis and treatment.

9. Clues to Limited Health Literacy • Behaviors • Incomplete or inaccurate forms • Frequently missed appointments • Noncompliance • Lack of follow through on tests or referrals • Lab results indicate noncompliance even though patient thinks s/he is compliant

10. Clues continued • Responses to receiving written information • I forgot my glasses – I’ll read this at home • I forgot my glasses – can you read this to me? • Let me bring this home to discuss with my wife/partner/children

11. Clues continued • Responses to questions about medication regimes • Unable to name medications • Unable to explain what the medication is for • Unable to explain the timing of the medication

12. Actions to Combat Low Literacy • How happy are you with how you read? • Brown bag medication review • How does the patient identify his/her medication? • Make your practice patient friendly • This includes all the staff

13. Six steps to Improving Communication with Patients • Slow down. • Use plain nonmedical language • Show or draw pictures • Limit the amount of information provided • Use the “teach-back” method • Create a shame-free environment

14. Tools • Grand Rounds • http://www2.creighton.edu/health/library/events/grandrounds/october2009/index.php • Ask Me 3 • http://www.npsf.org/askme3/ • What is my main problem • What do I need to do? • Why is it important for me to do this? • MedlinePlus Easy to Read • http://medlineplus.gov • English and Spanish • Information RX • http://www.informationrx.org/ • Refer patients to MedlinePlus • UNMC Consumer Health Information Resource Services (CHIRS) • http://www.unmc.edu/library/consumer/

15. Questions? • Contact your Reference library! • Creighton: 280-5138