The Health Information Literacy Curriculum

1
The Health Information Literacy Curriculum

• Sponsored by the Medical Library Association
• Funded by the National Library of Medicine
  
• Contract Number HHSN276200663511/NO1-LM-6-3511
• 2008

2
Learning Objectives

• Recognize the impact low health literacy has on
  patient care
• Name five strategies and resources to improve
  health literacy
• Describe the health literacy services offered by
  the library

3
What is 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.
• Healthy People 2010

4
What factors affect Health Literacy?

• Health literacy is dependent on individual and
  system factors
• Communication skills
• Information and knowledge
• Culture and language
• Demands of the system

5
Health Literacy in the U.S.
77 million adults have basic or below health
literacy skills
12
Proficient
53
13
Below Basic
Intermediate
Basic
22
Source The Health Literacy of American Adults.
Results from the 2003 National Assessment of
Adult Literacy. National Center for Education
Statistics (2006). http//nces.ed.gov/naal/health.
asp
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Why is Health Literacy Important?

• Low health literacy is linked to
• Under-utilization of services
• Increased medication errors
• Poor knowledge about health
• Increased hospitalizations
• Poor health outcomes
• Increased healthcare costs

7
Health Literacy and Healthcare Costs
Annual Healthcare Costs of Medicaid Enrollees
10,688
2,891
(lt3rd-grade reading level)
(gt4th-grade reading level)
Source Weiss, et al (2004). J Am Board Fam Pract.
8
Why Now? Why Hospitals?

• The safety of patients cannot be assured
  without mitigating the negative effects of low
  health literacy and ineffective communication on
  patient care.
• The Joint Commission

Source What did the Doctor Say? Improving
Health Literacy To Protect Patient Safety. The
Joint Commission (2007). www.jointcommission.org/
PublicPolicy/health_literacy.htm
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Strategies to Improve Health Literacy

• Use living room language
• Limit information (3-5 key points)
• Use easy-to-read print materials
• Practice teach-back
• Use Information Rx
• Address culture and language needs

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Living Room Language

• Name common terms for
• Hypertension
• Insomnia
• Benign
• Hazardous

• Disorder
• Option
• Poultry
• Routinely

11
Ask Me 3 National Patient Safety Foundation
www.npsf.org/askme3
12
Teach-Back Method
Source Help Your Patients Understand. AMA
Foundation Health Literacy. www.ama-assn.org/ama/p
ub/category/9913.html
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How is Information Critical to Health Literacy?

• Health information is key to
• Patient and provider communication
• Shared health care decision making
• Understanding and following directions
• Recognizing when to seek care
• Learning and adopting healthy behaviors

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What are the Challenges?

• Health literacy in the U.S.
• Readability of health materials
• Health information and the Internet

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Health Information and the Internet

• 80 of Internet users search for health
  information
• 75 rarely or never check the source and date
• 72 express trust in most or all information
  found online

Source Fox, S. Vital Decisions (2003). Online
Health Search (2006). Washington, DC Pew
Internet American Life Project.
www.pewinternet.org/PPF/c/5/topics.asp
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How Can Librarians Help?

• Free access to the Internet
• Patient information packets
• Consumer health collection
• Native language resources
• Teaching and training
• Virtual chat / email assistance
• Health literacy workgroup
• Information Rx

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Information Rx
18
www.MedlinePlus.gov
19
www.NIHSeniorHealth.gov
20
www.library.tufts.edu/hsl/spiral/
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Top 10 Most Useful Consumer Health Websites

• Cancer.gov
• CDC.gov
• Familydoctor.org
• Healthfinder.gov
• HIVInsite.ucsf.edu

• KidsHealth.org
• Mayoclinic.com
• Medem.com
• MedlinePlus.gov
• Noah-health.org

Available in Spanish

• Source Medical Library Association.
  www.mlanet.org

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Take Home Points

• Accurate and reliable health information is
  critical to health literacy
• Use Information Rx to refer patients to reliable
  health information and to the library for help
• Librarians are available to address the health
  literacy needs of patients and providers

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Information Rx
If you need more Information Rx prescription
pads, call the library.
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Thank You!

• Questions? Comments?

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References

• AHRQ ReportLiteracy and Health Outcomes (2004)
  www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/litsum.htm
• AMA Foundation Health Literacy www.ama-assn.org/a
  ma/pub/about-ama/our-people/affiliated-groups/ama-
  foundation/our-programs/public-health/health-liter
  acy-program.shtml
• Fox, S. Fallows, D. (2003) Internet Health
  Resources. Washington, DC Pew Internet
  American Life Project www.pewinternet.org/Reports/
  2003/Internet-Health-Resources.aspx
• Healthy People 2010, Health Communication,
  Objective 11-2 www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTM
  L/Volume1/11HealthCom.htm
• IOM ReportHealth Literacy A Prescription To End
  Confusion (2004) www.iom.edu/CMS/3775/3827/19723.a
  spx

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References

• NLM BibliographyUnderstanding Health Literacy
  and Its Barriers (2004) www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/cbm/h
  ealthliteracybarriers.html
• The Health Literacy of Americas Adults Results
  from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult
  Literacy (2007) http//nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsi
  nfo.asp?pubid2006483
• The Joint Commission Report What did the Doctor
  Say? Improving Health Literacy To Protect
  Patient Safety (2007) www.jointcommission.org/Publ
  icPolicy/health_literacy.htm
• Medical Library Association Top 10 Most Useful
  Consumer Health Websites www.mlanet.org/resources/
  medspeak/topten.html

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Acknowledgements

• Pilot Site Librarians
• Martha Prescott, Berkshire Medical Center Health
  Sciences Library
• Tori Koch and Kim Hart, Billings Clinic Medical
  Library
• Andrea Harrow, Good Samaritan Hospital Health
  Sciences Library
• Holly Kimborowicz, Lake Hospital System Medical
  Library
• Jeff Mason and Mary Chipanshi, Regina General
  Hospital Health Sciences Library
• Julie Smith, St. Joseph Hospital Burlew Library
• Denise Rumschlag and Carolyn Martin, St. Vincent
  Hospital Library
• Lenora Kinzie, Stormont-Vail Healthcare Stauffer
  Health Sciences Library, and Scarlett
  Fisher-Herreman, Topeka Shawnee County Public
  Library
• Geneva Bush Staggs and Beverly Rossini,
  University of South Alabama Biomedical Library

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Acknowledgements

• Health Information Literacy Research Project
• Sabrina Kurtz-Rossi, Project Coordinator
• Jean P. Shipman, Co-Principal Investigator
• Carla J. Funk, Co-Principal Investigator

• Project Advisors
• Elliot Siegel, Robert Logan, Angela Ruffin,
  Lisa Boyd, Susan Barns, Cindy Olney, Kathy
  Schilling, Marge Kars, Terry Jankowski, Barbara
  Bibel, and Cathy Boss