Improve system navigation for low literacy patients
Assessment of environment reveals barriers
To determine what barriers prevent patients with low health literacy from navigating a health care system, it's important for organizations to do an inventory. Once an inventory is complete, the information should be used to come up with strategies on ways to improve the environment, says Sandra Cornett, RN, PhD, director of the AHEC Clear Health Communication program at The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus.
To help one Ohio hospital complete an organizational inventory, the AHEC Clear Health Communication program created a staff survey to assess the environment. It was adapted from a tool called the Literacy Audit Kit produced by Literacy Alberta in Canada (www.literacyalberta.ca).
The purpose of the staff survey is to determine how well the hospital communicates with patients. The areas assessed include promotion/publicity, telephone communication, printed materials, verbal communication, and staff awareness of literacy issues. To complete the survey staff read a statement and check one of four option: We are NOT doing this; We ARE doing this but could improve; We are doing this WELL; or Does not apply to our hospital.
Statements on the survey include:
- If there is an automated phone system, it offers the option of repeating parts of the message.
- We regularly review our printed materials, including forms, to check how easy they are to read.
- We avoid hospital jargon when we talk with patients.
- Staff, volunteers, audio or video tapes are available to help patients fill out our forms.
- Once the staff survey is completed and the data analyzed a patient/family/community survey will be conducted.
Cornett said this tool has not yet been finalized but some of the possible questions are:
- Was it hard to find the hospital (office) the first time you came here? If it was hard to find, please explain why.
- In the lobby or reception area, is it easy to find information that you want or need (brochures, posters, signs, how to register, etc.)? If it is hard to find the information, please explain why.
- If you were asked to fill out a form, did the staff member offer to help you? How helpful was the staff member in assisting you fill in the form?
- If staff used medical or technical terms, did they explain them? How helpful were the explanations staff gave you? What are some of the words or terms that were hard to understand?
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