Health Literacy Basics
The ability to assess, understand, evaluate and communicate information to make health decisions.
Health Literacy.
Tool that measures reading ease and reading grade level.
Flesch-Kincaid readability tool.
PEEK stands for physical, emotional, experiential and ____ readiness.
Knowledge.
The first step in planning an evaluation.
Determine the focus of the evaluation.
A patient can explain insulin use but cannot perform it. What evaluation type applies?
Content evaluation (psychomotor).
Give one non-verbal behavior that may indicate low health literacy.
Avoiding reading, handing papers back, saying "I'll read it later", blank forms, looking confused, nervous laughter, missing appointments.
PEMAT evaluates what two qualities?
Understandability and actionability.
Asking "show me how you'd take this medication at home" evaluates which learning domain?
Psychomotor (and content evaluation).
Evaluation that happens during teaching to make real-time adjustments.
Process (formative).
Most effective method to confirm patient understanding.
Teach-back method.
The literacy type needed for calculating medication doses.
Quantitative literacy (numeracy).
Target Flesch-Kincaid reading ease score for patient education.
>60 (grade 8-9 reading level).
Give an example of tailoring health education.
Adjusting teaching to a patient's language, using pictures for low-literacy learners, aligning meds to daily routine, providing culturally relevant food examples, adjusting timing due to fatigue.
Evaluation that measures long-term retention and application of knowledge.
Outcome (summative).
Using simple language, chunking, conversational tone. What is this?
Plain language.
The approach that assumes all patients may have difficulty understanding information.
Universal precautions approach.
SAM evaluates materials based on 6 criteria; name 3.
Content, literacy demand, graphics, layout/typography, learning stimulation and motivation, cultural appropriateness.
One-question screening tool for reading difficulty.
SILS - single item literacy screen: "how often do you need help reading instructions or pamphlets?"
Evaluation that determines whether a program was worth the cost and resources.
Impact.
ER visits drop after a new education program. What evaluation does this show?
Outcome (or impact if comparing cost-benefit/system effects).
Give two reasons someone with low literacy may not ask for help.
Shame, stigma, fear of judgement, embarrassed, desire to appear competent, past negative experiences.
Why can't readability tools determine comprehension?
Because they only measure word and sentence length, not meaning, visuals, cultural context, prior knowledge, or whether instructions are actionable or understood.
Why can even educated patients have low health literacy during hospitalization?
Stress, pain, fear, unfamiliar environment, medications, fatigue - impaired memory, focus, and processing.
Give one example of external evidence and one of internal evidence.
External (published research, systematic reviews, census data).
Internal (unit infection rates, program-specific evaluations, quality improvement audits).
How does low health literacy lead to worse outcomes? Give two mechanisms.
Incorrect med use, inability to follow instructions, poor disease management, delayed care, misunderstanding symptoms, decreased adherence, increased complications.