It takes two to improve health communication
It takes two to improve health communication
Both consumers and health care providers have a role
To improve communication between health care professionals and patients, Doris Doherty, MA, BSN, RN, patient/family education coordinator at Franciscan Skemp/Mayo Health System in La Crosse, WI, helped create educational programs for staff and consumers that address health literacy. These educational programs came from within the hospital's department of education, as well as through partnerships with others in the community.
In order for health literacy to improve, both professionals and patients need to be aware of the concept of health literacy and what can be done to improve it, she says.
Patients have a right to understand what they need to know in order to take care of themselves, says Doherty. They also must be responsible and make sure that when they leave the physician office, they really understand what it is they can do to help themselves, she adds.
How do you help ensure health care professionals have provided information in a way patients understand so they can act upon it? How do you teach patients to work with professionals until they have a clear understanding of their role in their care?
The work Doherty did provides two examples from which patient education managers can draw to overcome problems resulting from low health literacy at their institutions.
In 2007, staff in the education department at Franciscan Skemp put together a competency for nurses on health literacy that included written materials and a video produced by the American Medical Association on health literacy. In January 2008, when the initial education and competency had been completed, the information was included in the one-hour patient education portion of nursing orientation.
"Every new nurse that is hired is exposed to the video from the AMA and a series of questions to challenge themselves in how they understand health literacy," says Doherty.
A physician at Franciscan Skemp educates his colleagues on health literacy at in-services.
To reach the public as well as health care professionals, Doherty joined with others in the community to form a literacy coalition called Great Rivers Partners for Health-e People. This group is a collaborative effort between two hospitals and a local university.
One achievement of this coalition was to obtain funding for an online training program for professionals, as well as an informational program for consumers, through a grant from the National Library of Medicine. (The training program can be viewed at www.literacycoalition.org.) Three librarians taking part in this coalition applied for the grant money.
During the past year and a half, during which the learning modules have been online, 900 members of the general public and 200 health care professionals have reviewed the information , says Doherty. The grant ends in December of this year, so the group is looking for another site to locate its learning modules.
Education through public speaking
Members of the Great Rivers Partners for Health-e People coalition frequently speak to groups including cultural organizations, literacy task forces, and community outreach programs, such as Parish Nurses.
When speaking to the public, coalition members tell consumers to come to medical appointments with questions they would like to have answered.
The group encourages people to ask the three questions created by Pfizer its Clear Health Communication guidelines (www.pfizerhealthliteracy.com). They include:
What is my main problem?
What do I need to do?
Why is it important for me to do this?
"We tell the public if they do not understand, nor do they know what to ask, these questions will improve discussion with their providers," says Doherty.
Consumers are also told to tell providers at the beginning of the appointment they have questions, or show them written questions.
Doherty says consumers and health care professionals must learn how to best interact due to time constraints. Physicians need to consider how to address questions in a timely manner, and consumers need to come to the appointment prepared. Also, patients need to be forthright and tell the health care professional they have questions at the beginning of the appointment, says Doherty.
Consumers are told to ask a family member or friend to accompany them to the physician appointment if they might need help understanding the instructions. They are also advised to bring a tablet on which to write points to remember, and to ask their provider to communicate in plain language, which is a way they can understand.
Doherty says groups appreciate the information. At a national Hmong conference in Appleton, WI, in April of 2009, two coalition members shared the three basic questions to ask at a physician appointment, and the group was grateful, she says.
"We also talked about plain language and encouraged them to be more proactive in receiving what they expected from their providers appointment, while being clear and honest about their cultural values," says Doherty.
The members of the coalition chose audience members to role play with them in order to demonstrate what an optimal office visit might look like with an interpreter.
"They enthusiastically related to that presentation and shared their stories of what they had experienced. Some of the stories were far from being the optimal visit," says Doherty.
To make visits to the physician office worthwhile, both health care providers and consumers must learn how they can improve understanding for better compliance, says Doherty.
SOURCE
For more information about teaching on health literacy, contact:
Doris Doherty, MA, BSN, RN, Patient/Family Education Coordinator, Franciscan Skemp/Mayo Health System, La Crosse, WI. Telephone: (608) 785-0940, ext. 2-2193. E-mail: [email protected].
To improve communication between health care professionals and patients, Doris Doherty, MA, BSN, RN, patient/family education coordinator at Franciscan Skemp/Mayo Health System in La Crosse, WI, helped create educational programs for staff and consumers that address health literacy.Subscribe Now for Access
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