Transcript Tools and Techniques - National Center for Health and Aging

Techniques for Improving
Health Literacy Among
Low-Income and Immigrant
Populations
March 26, 2013
Michael Villaire, MSLM
Chief Operating Officer
Institute for Healthcare Advancement
www.iha4health.org
[email protected]
(800) 434-4633 x202
What You’ll Learn
By the time you’re done with this webinar, you should be
able to:
1. Define health literacy
2. Describe the importance of improving health literacy
3. Explain the relationship between health literacy and
health disparities
4. Identify strategies to improve health literacy among
low-income and immigrant populations
5. Discuss the Institute for Healthcare Advancement’s
“What to do for Health” book series
Definitions
Literacy
• “Using printed and written information to function in
society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s
knowledge and potential” (Kirsch et al, 1993)
Definitions
Health Literacy
• “The degree to which individuals have the capacity to
obtain, process, and understand basic health
information and services needed to make appropriate
health decisions” (Ratzan and Parker, 2000)
• “Health literacy allows the public and personnel working in all
health-related contexts to find, understand, evaluate,
communicate, and use information. Health literacy is the use of
a wide range of skills that … include reading, writing, listening,
speaking, numeracy, and critical analysis, as well as
communication and interaction skills.” (Calgary Charter on Health Literacy,
2008)
Definitions
Health Literacy Components
• Reading and writing
• Listening and verbal communication (patient
and provider)
• Numeracy
 Computation skills
 Interpreting / evaluating risk (%)
• Self-efficacy
--Institute of Medicine. Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. 2004
Other Considerations
• Culture / belief systems
• Mismatch between provider demand and
patient skill level
• Mismatch of reading level / materials
• Strong relation to health disparities
• Strong relation to safety and quality
You know
what you
mean…
But do
they?
This happens…
An 89-year-old man with dementia is diagnosed
with an ear infection and is prescribed an oral
liquid antibiotic. His wife understands that he must
take one teaspoon twice a day. After carefully
studying the bottle’s label and not finding
administration instructions, she fills a teaspoon and
pours it into his painful ear.
Parker, R. et al. J Health Comm, 2003.
This happens, too…
Mr. G, 45, an Hispanic immigrant, native Spanish
language speaker, has a job health screening. He
is told his BP is high, can’t work until it’s
controlled. Given β-blocker, diuretic, instructed to
take each “once a day.” 1 week later, presents @
ED, BP very low, dizzy. Docs can’t figure out.
Spanish speaker asks him how many pills he took
each day. “22,” says Mr. G. (In Spanish, once
means 11.)
Nielsen-Bohlman et al. IoM “A Prescription to End Confusion” 2004
Who’s to Blame?
At a teaching hospital, an intern writes in a
“Patient’s problems” section of the medical
chart, “Speaks no English.”
The attending physician writes a note back in
response, “Your problem, not his.”
Clancy C. AHRQ. Comments at Institute of Medicine
Health Literacy Roundtable 2/09.
Which of the following
is the strongest predictor
of an individual’s health status?
A. Age
B. Income
C. Literacy skills
D. Employment status
E. Education level
F. Racial or ethnic group
Which of the following
is the strongest predictor
of an individual’s health status?
A. Age
B. Income
C. Literacy skills (75% who self reported poor health in Below Basic HL category)
D. Employment status
E. Education level
F. Racial or ethnic group
--National Patient Safety Foundation
Health Literacy Myths
• People who can’t read, can’t learn.
• Most people who are illiterate are immigrants
or minorities.
• If someone can’t read and I give them written
instructions, they’ll tell me they can’t read.
• I can tell how well someone can read by the
number of years they attended school.
From: Health Literacy Myths, Misperceptions and Reality
http://www.idph.state.ia.us/fsbupdate/common/pdf/110804.pdf
Health Disparities and
Health Literacy
Health Disparities
-Definitions• “[D]ifferences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and
burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist
among specific population groups in the U.S.” (NIH, 1999)
• “… a population-specific difference in disease, health
outcomes, or access to care.” (HRSA, 2000)
• “…difference in health status between a defined portion of the
population and the majority. Disparities can exist because of
SES, age, … gender, race/ethnicity, language, customs or other
cultural factors, [or] disability… .” (Minnesota Dept. Health,
2002)
Health Disparities Components
• Restricted access to healthcare services
• Includes unjust / preventable inequities
• Disproportionately affects minorities / poverty
/ low educational attainment
• Shared responsibility among system,
providers, patients
Connections: Health Literacy /
Health Disparities
• Low systemic awareness of the problem
• ↓ access to usable health promotion materials
• Disproportionate by poverty / language
barriers / education / disability
• Lower rates of insured / less access
• Victims of poor cultural competency / lack of
racial/ethnic diversity in HC system
Connections: Health Literacy /
Health Disparities
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Higher hospital admission rates
Receive poorer quality healthcare
Poorer outcomes
Inadequate language access services
Perception of unequal treatment
Poor self-efficacy
Preventable
Literacy / Health Literacy Statistics
Data Sources
• 1992 NALS (National Adult Literacy
Survey)
• 2003 NAAL (National Assessment of
Adult Literacy)
Added Health Literacy Module
Literacy Levels
• Below Basic—no more than the most simple
& concrete literacy skills
• Basic—skills needed to perform simple,
everyday literacy activities
• Intermediate—skills needed to perform
moderately challenging activities
• Proficient—skills needed for more complex &
challenging literacy activities
NAAL Literacy Findings
Percent of U.S. adult population with Below
Basic or Basic skills in:
• Prose Literacy – 44%
• Document Literacy – 34%
• Quantitative Literacy – 55%
NAAL Health Literacy Findings:
• 36% have limited health literacy skills
(22% Basic, 14% Below Basic)
• About 12% considered Proficient
• Includes 3% who did poorly on basic screening tasks,
routed to alternative assessment
• Does not include 2% who knew no English or Spanish
• Majority (53%) had intermediate HL levels
• Women’s avg. HL score 6 pts. higher (4% more men
in Below Basic)
Who has poor health literacy?
• Nearly 60% of 65+ in Basic/Below Basic
• Health ins. from employer ↑ HL,
Medicare/Medicaid/No ins ↓ HL
• Hispanics (12% of adult pop.) represent 35%
of those in Below Basic HL category
• Below poverty level (17% adult pop.)
represent 43% of those in Below Basic HL
• 75% who self-reported poor health in Below
Basic HL
Health Literacy Statistics
• 1 in 2 Americans can’t read above a 5th grade
level (Kirsch 2003)
• Most patient education materials written
beyond recipients’ ability to understand (IoM 2004)
• 26% couldn’t understand when next appt.
• 42% couldn’t understand “take on empty
stomach”
• 60% couldn’t understand consent form (JAMA 1995)
Stir In…
• 381 languages spoken/signed in U.S.
• 40 million foreign-born people live in the
United States (2010)
• 60 million Americans speak a language other
than English at home
• 24 million Americans have LEP
• 75-90% of patients in the 2 lowest reading
levels describe themselves as being able to
read/write English “well” or “very well”
Oh, and then there’s…
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Cognitive impairment
Hearing / visual impairment
Medications
Stress (most forget at least 50% of what
healthcare provider told them)
• Shame re Illiteracy:
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78% thought they should hide it/cope
77% never told their doctor
67% never told their spouse
19% never told anyone
Parikh, N.S., et al. Patient Educ Couns, 1996.
How Patients Hide Illiteracy
May say things like:
• “I forgot my glasses”
• “I don’t need to read this through now; I’ll read it
when I get home”
• “I’d like to discuss this with my family”
• “I have a headache now and can’t focus”
• “I’ll just take this with me and read it later”
• Don’t ask questions
• Believe they understand but don’t
Why Does Health Literacy Matter?
Those with limited literacy skills:
• Report poorer overall health
• Have poorer ability to manage chronic diseases
• Have poorer outcomes
• Less likely to understand their diagnosis
• Less likely to have screening / preventive care
• Present in later stages of disease
• Are more likely to be hospitalized / rehospitalized
Why Does Health Literacy Matter?
Cost of Poor Health Literacy:
• $73 billion in unnecessary costs annually
(Friedland, Georgetown University, 2003)
• $106-$238 billion in unnecessary costs annually
(Vernon, University of Connecticut, 2007)
Cost of Chronic Disease:
• $1.7 trillion (75% of HC expenditures)
• Nearly 1 in 2 Americans live with a chronic disease
• 90% >65 have a chronic disease;
77% have 2+
• 70% of annual US deaths (CDC 2008)
Toward Solutions
Tools and Techniques
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Design Considerations
Universal Precautions
Plain language
Teach-back method
Brown-bag test
Ask Me 3 / Questions Are the Answer
Easy to Use Materials
Tools and Techniques
• Design Considerations
 Large type size (12-14 point) and double-spaced
Standard font (no italics or ALL CAPS)
Two type faces (Arial-headings, Times NR-body)
Simple headings
White space
Usable, appropriate, explanatory graphics
Tools and Techniques
• Design Considerations
 Short sentences (8-10 words each)
 Use columns
 Bulleted list/text or “chunking” (keep to 7-8 max)
 “How to” or “Need to do” in active voice
Design
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White space
Large type size (12-14 point) and double-spaced
Standard font (no italics or ALL CAPS)
Two type faces (Arial-headings; Times New Romanbody)
Simple headings
Usable, appropriate, explanatory graphics (no abstract
graphics)
Short sentences (8-10 words each)
Use columns
Bulleted lists (keep to 7-8 max)
Color / Navigation
Real-life
Examples
From “What To Do When Your
Child Gets Sick” Institute for
Healthcare Advancement
www.iha4health.org
Real-life
Examples
From “Living With Diabetes:
An Everyday Guide for You
and Your Family”
American College of
Physicians Foundation
foundation.acponline.org/hl/hlr
esources.htm
Real-life
Examples:
Photonovela
From “From Junk Food to
Healthy Eating: Tanya's
Journey to a Better Life”
Inter-Cultural Association of
Greater Victoria
www.photonovel.ca/photonove
ls.htm
Design critique
• What’s good?
• What’s not so
good?
“The Bible”
Available from:
•http://www.hsph.
harvard.edu/
healthliteracy/
resources/doak-book/
•IHA Health Literacy
Conference
Tools and Techniques
• Universal Precautions
 Assume 5th grade reading level for all pts.
 Include all stakeholders in planning/
implementation
 Limit key messages to no more than 3 “need to
do,” not “nice to know”
 Elicit questions. “What questions do you have?”
Strike the phrase, “Do you have any questions?”
from your vocabulary!
 www.ahrq.gov UP toolkit
Tools and Techniques
• Plain language
 Do not use medical jargon
 Slow down
 Use “living room language”
 Test results: What is benign? Negative? At-risk?
 More likely your message will be understood
 Lower chance of misunderstanding instructions
Don’t Use
Medical Jargon
Consider these words:
vomiting
formulary
unconscious
oral
analgesic
umbilicus
contraception
insomnia
urine
acne
CVA
benign
terminal
negative
Don’t Use
Medical Jargon
Do these “living room language” alternatives work?
vomiting (throwing up)
formulary (list of drugs)
unconscious (out, not awake)
oral (by mouth)
analgesic (pain med)
umbilicus (belly button)
contraception (birth control)
insomnia (can’t sleep)
urine (pee)
acne (pimples)
CVA (stroke)
benign (no cancer)
terminal (end of life)
negative (don’t have)
Tools and Techniques
• Teach-back method
 Toward assuring patient comprehension
 Shared learning burden – include clinician role
 Iterative process – teach to goal:
 Introduce new concept / technique
 Demonstrate using multiple teaching modalities
 Ask pt. to demonstrate / explain in their own words
 Assess – review – tailor approach
 Repeat to patient mastery
Tools and Techniques
• Brown-bag test
 A form of literacy screening
 Look at pill or label?
Ask patient to bring in all their meds (in a brown
bag) (Drug interaction opportunity)
 Test for comprehension of what med is / how to
take it / why they take it
 “When was the last time you took this pill?”
Tools and Techniques
• Ask Me 3 / Questions Are the Answer
Ask Me 3
 What is my main problem?
 What do I need to do?
 Why is it important for me to do this?
www.npsf.org/askme3
Tools and Techniques
• Ask Me 3 / Questions Are the Answer (www.ahrq.gov/questions)
Questions Are the Answer
 What is the test for?
 How many times have you done this procedure?
 When will I get the results?
 Why do I need this treatment?
 Are there any alternatives?
 What are the possible complications?
 Which hospital is best for my needs?
 How do you spell the name of that drug?
 Are there any side effects?
 Will this medicine interact with medicines that I'm already
taking?
Tools and Techniques
• Easy to Read, Easy to Use Books
Tools and Techniques
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“What To Do For Health” Books
Written at a 3rd-5th grade reading level
Effective in-home solutions for most health
issues
Liberally illustrated with useful diagrams and
images
No medical jargon
Available in multiple languages
Indexed for quick and easy use
Tools and Techniques
“What To Do For Health” Books
• 57-61% reduction in ER Visits
• 39-56% decrease in doctors/clinic
visits
• 29-60% fewer missed school days
by children due to illness or injury
• 41-47% fewer missed work days by
parents due to child's illness
Contact: [email protected]
Explore…
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www.ihahealthliteracy.org
nnlm.gov/outreach/consumer/hlthlit.html
nces.ed.gov/naal
www.health.gov/communication
www.ahrq.gov/browse/hlitix.htm
medlineplus.gov
healthfinder.gov
www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy
www.iha4health.org
plainlanguage.gov
Explore…
• www.healthliteracy.com
• www.healthliteracymissouri.org
• http://lincs.ed.gov/mailman/listinfo/Healthliteracy/
(join listserv)
• ama-assn.org (Foundation/Health Literacy)
• foundation.acponline.org/hl/hlresources.htm
• www.iom.edu (health literacy)
Thank you!
What questions do you have?