Health Literacy Among Parents of Newborn Infants

Abstract

BACKGROUND Health Literacy is the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information to make knowledgeable health decisions. PURPOSE To determine baseline health literacy of NICU parents at a tertiary care hospital during periods of crucial information exchange. METHODS Health Literacy of English speaking NICU parents was assessed using the Newest vital Sign (NVS) on admission (n=121) and discharge (n=59). A quasi-control group of well newborn (WBN) parents (n=24) and prenatal obstetric clinic (PRE) parents (n=18) were included. A single, Likert-style question measured nurse’s assessment of parental comprehension with discharge teaching. Suspected limited health literacy (SLHL) was defined as NVS score of ≤3. FINDINGS / RESULTS Forty-three percent of parents on NICU admission and 32% at NICU discharge had SLHL (p<0.01). SLHL for WBN parents and PRE were 25% and 58% respectively. Parental age, gender, location, and history of healthcare related employment were not associated with health literacy status at any time point. Thirty-nine percent of NICU parents and 25% of WBN parents with SLHL at time of admission/infant birth had a college education. Nurse subjective measurement of parental comprehension of discharge instructions was not correlated to the objective measurement of health literacy (p=0.26). IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE SLHL is common during peak time periods of complex health discussion in the NICU, WBN, and PRE settings. NICU providers may not accurately gauge parent’s literacy status. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH Methods for improving health communication are needed. Studies should evaluate SLHL in a larger NICU population and across different languages and cultures.

Family-Centered Care From the Perspective of Parents of Children Cared for in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: An Integrative Review

“…When studying parents of infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Mackley, Winter, Guillen, Paul, and Locke (2016) found that during times of complex information exchange regarding the condition and care of their infants, one third of parents scored as having suspected limited health literacy. Furthermore, when assessing nurses’ subjective interpretations of parent understanding of complex information in discharge teaching, they perceived adequate comprehension by parents 83.3% of the time while 32% of parents exhibited suspected limited health literacy.…”

Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Parent Education in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

“…One study showed that 43% of NICU parents may have a low level of health literacy, which impacts their ability to understand, retain, and process health information. 18 In addition, many parents report high levels of stress while their infant is in the NICU, 19 which can also significantly impact their ability to retain what has been learned. 20 Standardized parent education programs have shown benefits to parents and infants while also creating efficiencies.…”

Percepção dos pais sobre as práticas de educação em saúde na Unidade Neonatal

“…A capacidade de os pais compreender e assimilar a informação é outro fator facilitador 7 . Essa capacidade é afetada pelo stresse associado ao internamento, pela quantidade de informação especializada que é transmitida 9 e pelo nível de Letramento em Saúde (LS) parental 10 . A informação pode, inclusive, tornar-se inútil quando não é transmitida atempadamente, não é monitorizada a compreensão ou quando os esclarecimentos são inconsistentes 6 .…”