Kim Irish
HSMP660

Presentation Materials

October 13, 2016

Topic Background

The Institute of Medicine defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” Low health literacy and poor patient-provider communication negatively impact patient-centered outcomes, such as, patient satisfaction and adherence to treatment therapies. Approximately one-third of U.S. adults are believed to have low health literacy.

In 2010, improving health literacy education for health professionals was identified as a priority within the U.S. National Action Plan and in 2011 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The three accompany articles review low health literacy and health outcomes, health literacy training in family medicine residency programs and the intersection of health literacy and cultural competency education.

At this point, I am interested in a research question that looks at the combined health literacy and cultural competency education of residents/fellows and patient satisfaction or adherence to treatment therapies. My methods will likely be qualitative or mixed with data from residents/fellows and patients at OHSU. I also am interested in K-12 education, adult basic literacy education (ABLE) settings, and also looking at language barriers.


Articles to Review

1.  Berkman, N. D., Sheridan, S. L., Donahue, K. E., Halpern, D. J., & Crotty, K. (2011). Low Health Literacy and Health Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review. Annals of Internal Medicine Ann Intern Med, 155(2), 97. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-155-2-201107190-00005

2.  Coleman CA, Nguyen NT, Garvin R, Sou C, Carney PA. Health Literacy Teaching in U.S. Family Medicine Residency Programs: A National Survey. Journal of Health Communication 2016;21(Suppl1):51-57

3.  Lie, D., Carter-Pokras, O., Braun, B., & Coleman, C. (2012). What Do Health Literacy and Cultural Competence Have in Common? Calling for a Collaborative Health Professional Pedagogy. Journal of Health Communication, 17(Sup3), 13-22. doi:10.1080/10810730.2012.712625

4.  Coleman C, Fromer A. A Health Literacy Training Intervention for Physicians and Other Health Professionals. Family Medicine, 2015;47(5):388-92

Questions

I would like to discuss the various general directions my research question could go. I’m struggling with identifying an area with a realistic scope and tying in an educational policy/accreditation lens. Below are a few of the questions that I have considered:

  1. How does health literacy and cultural competency training in a residency [or fellowship] program affect patient satisfaction (or adherence to treatment therapies)?
  2. This could be looking at either a family medicine or internal medicine program or comparing one of these primary care programs to a specialty program, such as hematology oncology or emergency medicine.
  3. How does health literacy and cultural competency training in an entire clinic (including front office staff, MA’s, nurses, residents/fellows, faculty), along with the implementation of a tool to help identify patients with low health literacy impact patient satisfaction (or adherence to treatment therapies)?
  4. In graduate medical education, which educational techniques, tools and competency assessment in relation to health literacy and cultural competency can result in clinical behaviors that improve patient-centered outcomes?