Assessing health professionals’ perception of health literacy in Rhode Island community health centers: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Limited health literacy is linked with poor health behaviors, limited health care access, and poor health outcomes. Improving individual and population health outcomes requires understanding and addressing barriers to promoting health literacy. Methods: Using the socio-ecological model as a guiding framework, this qualitative study (Phase 1 of a larger ongoing project) explored the interpersonal and organizational levels that may impact the health literacy levels of patients seeking care at federally qualified community health centers (FQCHCs) in Rhode Island. Focus groups were conducted with FQCHC employees (n = 37) to explore their perceptions of the health literacy skills of their patients, health literacy barriers patients encounter, and possible strategies to increase health literacy. The focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed, and transcripts were coded using a process of open, axial, and selective coding. Codes were grouped into categories, and the constant comparative approach was used to identify themes. Results: Eight unique themes centered on health literacy, sources of health information, organizational culture's impact, challenges from limited health literacy, and suggestions to ameliorate the impact of limited health literacy. All focus group participants were versed in health literacy and viewed health literacy as impacting patients' health status. Participants perceived that some patients at their FQCHC have limited health literacy. Participants spoke of themselves and of their FQCHC addressing health literacy through organizational-and provider-level strategies. They also identified additional strategies (e.g., training staff and providers on health literacy, providing patients with information that includes graphics) that could be adopted or expanded upon to address and promote health literacy.

Continuous voluntary community care services for older people in China: Evidence from Wuhu

“…In addition, the welfare state encourages the development of informal care- which is a type of care that provided by family members to meet older people's unmet care needs- such as the provision of a supporting care allowance for family caregivers ( 2 – 4 ). However, older people in China still have high levels of unmet care needs ( 4 ) owing to the lack of informal care resources and insufficient formal care from both institutional and residential care ( 5 ). Furthermore, the relatively low level of assistance provided by China's care policy makes care services too expensive for older people to cover by themselves, despite the proportion paid by the state ( 6 , 7 ).…”

How can care managers strengthen health literacy among patients with common mental disorders? A qualitative study

“…The care managers' aim in going through selfassessment scales together with the patient was to give the person the opportunity to ask questions based on individual needs. Previous studies have shown that the content of the material is thereby integrated on a deeper level, and through the interaction it becomes easier for patients to then apply the information on their own [6,7,31,32]. Previous studies also show that using different strategies in combination with different methods improves the patient's understanding, compliance and health outcomes and strengthens the patient's health literacy [6,7,31,32].…”

“…The individual ability to influence one's health varies throughout life. Therefore, it is important to reconsider individuals' health knowledge at meetings in health care [4,6,8,15,[21][22][23] and to adapt communication, support and strategies based on the individual's needs [7,18,20,23,24]. Patients with mental illness often have low confidence in their own abilities and may have difficulty expressing their needs, which often makes the healthcare encounter more challenging [10].…”

“…A sufficiently good health literacy is necessary in order for patients to be able to understand, assess and apply health information and thereby promote and preserve their health [4][5][6][7]. Health literacy describes people's knowledge, motivation and ability to understand, evaluate and apply health knowledge.…”

Use of the English Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) with Health Science University Students in Nepal: A Validity Testing Study

“…If healthcare professionals themselves have health literacy needs, then this can hinder their abilities to support their patients. In an era that has a strong focus on patient-centred care, it becomes critical that healthcare professionals understand and can detect, accommodate and respond appropriately to the health literacy diversity of their communities [ 18 , 19 , 20 ]. The measurement of the health literacy strengths, needs and preferences of students studying the health professions enables early support for students’ own health literacy and helps to identify and address gaps in the curriculum for their health literacy training for their future roles as healthcare professionals [ 15 , 21 ].…”