Publication Date

2018

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Disciplines

Family Practice Nursing | Geriatric Nursing | Interprofessional Education | Public Health and Community Nursing | Public Health Education and Promotion

Abstract

Health literacy is a complex, common, and challenging issue facing the United States and the world today. Occurring in the context of care delivery and significantly impacting the quality of care provided, health literacy is not simply a patient problem; but places a substantial burden on healthcare clinicians to ensure they are providing clear communication. Research suggests a lack of awareness and training among healthcare clinicians related to health literacy, resulting in clinicians being unaware of and unprepared to address this issue in practice. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project was to raise the awareness of limited health literacy among healthcare clinicians caring for participants in a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and to provide them with strategies and interventions they could utilize in their care delivery. A pre- and post-test was used assess the clinicians’ health literacy awareness before and after a health literacy educational intervention. A post-survey was used to assess their utilization of recommended strategies and interventions one month after the intervention. The project results suggest that the educational intervention did increase healthcare clinicians’ awareness of the challenges of limited health literacy and recommended strategies and interventions. The results also suggest that the educational intervention positively impacted the clinicians’ utilization of health literacy strategies and interventions one month after the intervention. Recommendations for practice include incorporation of the educational intervention as part of the mandatory continuing education requirements for healthcare clinicians at a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

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