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Instructions for Off-site Clinics and Departments. October is Health Literacy Month! An on-site Health Literacy Fair will take Place on 10/2 and 10/3 in the 4ACC. It’s important to us that our offsite locations have this information too!. Responsible: Unit Director/Manager
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Instructions for Off-site Clinics and Departments • October is Health Literacy Month! • An on-site Health Literacy Fair will take Place on 10/2 and 10/3 in the 4ACC. • It’s important to us that our offsite locations have this information too! • Responsible: • Unit Director/Manager • During the Month of October 2012 • Please present this information to your staff by: • Printing and posting it on a Bulletin Board; or • Presenting it at a Staff Meeting
Health Literacy 101 To Learn More Contact: Audrey Riffenburgh Senior Health Literacy Specialist Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 272-5101
The Challenge: Meeting Our Patients’ Information Needs • Our challenge—health care systems are tough for patients to manage • Difficult processes, hard-to-understand policies • Verbal communication—too often not understood, but patients don’t ask • Print communication—too hard to read or in terminology patients don’t know
Why Don’t People Understand? • Medical terms, the human body, and our health care system are mysteries! • Reduced cognitive function • Increased demands for patient “self-care” • Potential barriers of race, language, culture, poverty, gender, illness, and literacy
What is Health Literacy? • An individual’s ability to obtain, process, understand and use health information and services to make appropriate health decisions. ~ Healthy People 2010 • An organization’s ability to make it easier for people to navigate, understand, and use information and services to make…health decisions. ~ IOM “Attributes of a HL Organization,” 2012
Health Literacy vs. General Literacy • Low general literacy leads to low health literacy. • But even highly-literate people can have low health literacy. • No matter who you are, medical info is tough when you’re ill, stressed or don’t know about the topic.
“The Health Literacy of America’s Adults” • Only 12% are in the proficient level! • 75 million adults are in below basic & basic levels Source: 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)
Groups at Greatest Risk of Low Health Literacy Skills • Seniors • People living in poverty • People from ethnic minority groups—Hispanic, Black, American Indian • People with physical, mental or other health problems • People with chronic or long term health problems (Sources: 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey and Health Literacy of America’s Adults, 2003)
What is UNM Hospitals Doing to Improve Communication with Patients? • Health Literacy Classes • Sign up through Learning Central • Patient-Friendly Document Committee • Review and Revision of Certain Documents • Creation of Templates • Creation of Guideline Resources • Raising Awareness • Health Literacy Fair October 2-3, 2012 • Health Literacy Month – Bulletin Boards/Offsite Staff Education • Resources Online • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dept website from Intranet • HSLIC Health Literacy LibGuide: http://hsc.unm.edu/library/
Check it Out! • Here are some recently revised documents from UNM Hospitals • See if you can spot the changes!
