Assessment can identify need for addressing literacy
Assessment can identify need for addressing literacy
For best results, narrow the survey focus
To assess the barriers to health literacy at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Nadia Ali, MD, MB; BS, an academic internist, decided to conduct a survey of the interns and residents in the residency program and the nurses on the medical floors. The purpose of the survey was to help identify a need for addressing health literacy systemwide.
Because the topic of health literacy is so broad, she narrowed the focus to printed health information and broke it into three categories: patient factors, system factors, and physician-related factors.
The first question assessed the practice of the health care professionals with the question "How often do you provide health information to patients or their families?"
The next question looked at the factors that could affect their practice and was patient-related: "How often do patients or their families ask for printed or written health information?"
The third question was directed at the system: "Do you find there are resources available for providing written health information for patients on the floor?"
The last two questions addressed physician factors and were designed to determine their understanding of health literacy.
One read: "Do you agree or disagree that most written health information or most written health material or health pamphlets are difficult for patients to understand?"
Ali says the answer is true. "The question was to determine if they understood the concept of health literacy and how written health information can be a barrier itself," she explains.
The second question in this category read: "Do you agree or disagree that verbal health information is more effective than written health information?"
Ali says when verbal information is given, about 80% is lost by the time the patient leaves the clinic, and what they retain is often incorrect. "This question was basically geared towards knowing if the provider has understood the limitation of providing verbal information," says Ali.
The survey provided information on whether the institution had issues with written health information.
"The survey helped me establish a need for addressing the health literacy barriers and also helped shed light on the types of barriers that existed in my setting," says Ali.
To assess the barriers to health literacy at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Nadia Ali, MD, MB; BS, an academic internist, decided to conduct a survey of the interns and residents in the residency program and the nurses on the medical floors. The purpose of the survey was to help identify a need for addressing health literacy systemwide.Subscribe Now for Access
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