According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 36% of the U.S. population lacks the health literacy skills required to navigate the healthcare system independently and accurately. Ultimately, the result of this lack of knowledge and understanding about health conditions and available services leads to several negative outcomes. At-risk populations are unable to follow through with self-care activities, have difficulty understanding medication administration instructions and adhering to treatment plans, have a lower utilization of preventive services, experience increased hospitalizations and healthcare costs, and have worse health outcomes and increased mortality.
Numerous evidence-based assessment tools are available to evaluate your patient's level of health literacy and detect how he or she learns best (verbally, aurally, or by demonstration). These include the Newest Vital Sign assessment, the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, the Revised Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Spanish-speaking Adults, and the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. In addition to numerous assessment tools, there are evidence-based interventions you can use to teach patients how to perform self-care activities, such as completing a brown bag medication review, using the teach-back method, providing tracking tools to monitor chronic conditions, and offering assistance in areas of decreased understanding. You should also include your patient in the development of his or her care plan and encourage behaviors that he or she is most likely to use on a consistent basis.
Being aware of how we approach our patients can improve our communication with them. First, speak slowly and clearly, using nonmedical language. Utilizing pictures and diagrams can increase recall of the information discussed. In addition, limiting the amount of information delivered at one time can increase the likelihood of your patient retaining what was taught. At the end of each appointment with a healthcare provider, your patient should be able to answer these three questions: What's my main problem? What do I need to do about the problem? Why's it important for me to do this? (This is known as Ask Me 3.)
Healthcare systems can address the challenges of health literacy by identifying best practices for communicating health-related information. We can also work to develop a system to improve healthcare communication with patients who have low health literacy skills via publicly funded programs. Lastly, we can identify strategies to effectively communicate population-based health education messages to people of low health literacy to improve their health knowledge and their ability to navigate the healthcare system.
If we take a few extra minutes to assess and address our patients' health literacy skills, it can make a difference in how they navigate the healthcare system and comply with suggestions from healthcare providers. Building positive and trusting relationships will also improve your patient's willingness to listen and learn how to improve his or her health outcomes.