Health Literacy
How well a person can find, understand, and use health information and services to make good health decisions is
health literacy
Includes tone of voice, body language, gestures, facial expressions, touch and physical appearance
Nonverbal communication
What is a tool you can use when your patient does not speak the language you do?
Language line
Interpreter
Written instructions in their language
What time is 2200?
10:00pm
Why can use of technology in health care be a disadvantage?
-release of labs before being reviewed by physician
-searching on the internet "worst case scenarios"
-lack of human touch
What are other reasons (not related to health literacy) a patient might not follow medical advise?
Disagree with the recommended treatment
Concerned about cost
Directions are too difficult to follow
Against beliefs
These questions can be answered with "yes or no" and should not be used when checking for patient understanding.
Closed ended questions
If your patient is blind, what are some things you will incorporate with their care?
Talk though everything!
Lead them to the chair/bed
Ask a family member to come with
A set of terms and acronyms that healthcare professionals use to communicate with each other
Medical Jargon
What are some examples of when math is used in health care?
-calculating medication dosages
-taking height and weight readings
-measuring the amount of fluids drank
-performing billing/bookkeeping tasks
-performing lab tests
-mixing solutions
-processing medical bills
-handling insurance claims
-calculating cardiac output
-counting instruments used in surgery
What is a consequence of low health literacy?
Worsened health outcomes
Difficulty in understanding prescription labels
Decreased medication adherence
Not following orders because of not understanding plan
A type of listening when you are focusing on what the speaker is saying, verbally and nonverbally, is called
Active listening
How should you communicate with a patient who is angry?
Do not respond in anger or raise your voice
Remain calm and courteous
Listen attentively
Be aware of your body language
Ask for help (security) if you need
What's a word that has a different meaning when in health care than when not?
"Positive"
"Impressive"
"put you to sleep"
What is a benefit of Telemedicine?
-Access to a specialist who isn't located nearby
-communicate vital signs from home to allow the facility to monitor
-checking pacemakers function and performing ECG's from home
-performing parts of the physical exam from a distance
-communicating arriving patients to the team early
What can healthcare providers do to improve patient understanding?
Provide written materials in multiple languages
Not rushing through appointments
Answer patient's questions
Do not use medical jargon
What is teach back?
Why is it important that your patient trusts you?
comfortable asking you questions
will be honest with you
will come back and help with continuity of care
Q.I.D. means
Q.D. means
QID = four times a day
QD = every day
Digital versions of health paper documents are called what?
EMR's - electronic medical records
EHR's - electronic health records
How can technology improve health literacy?
Offers user-friendly health apps and resources
Access to more information
Can view information in different formats (videos)
Up to ___% of the meaning of messages is expressed nonverbally.
70
What are 2 barriers that impact communication amongst team members in healthcare?
lack of time
hierarchical structures
poor listening skills/multitasking
emotional stress
physical distractions
generational gaps
differing levels of expertise
What is the "Do not use" list?
A list of error prone abbreviations and symbols that is recommend to never be used in any medical communications. There is also a list of drug names that should never be abbreviated.
https://www.ismp.org/recommendations/error-prone-abbreviations-list
What is a consequence of poor documentation?
-misinformed workers/patients
-unnecessary or repetitive tests
-longer hospital stays
-poor patient care
-repetition of serious incidents