Minimizing Effects of Low Literacy on Medication Knowledge and Compliance among the Elderly

Abstract

Medication knowledge and compliance among the elderly was examined using a color-coded method, which was designed to tailor the medication regimen to the person's daily schedule. Data were collected from 80 elderly, predominantly indigent, and individuals of low literacy. Group 1 of the study received verbal teaching only, whereas Group 2 received verbal teaching and a color-coded medication schedule. Knowledge increased significantly among both groups. Compliance to the medication schedule increased in Group 2, among those subjects whose pretest compliance scores were low. These results suggest that a method that considers the characteristics of the individual can significantly increase knowledge and compliance.

Assessing Readability of Patient Education Materials: Current Role in Orthopaedics

“…Although there have been many studies suggesting improving reading ease of patient education articles enhances health outcomes [1,9,20,24,32,44], two studies show improving reading ease failed to improve patients' comprehension of health-related information [34,38]. However, this failure may be related to overestimation of the patient's health literacy, resulting in inadequate education programs and thus warranting more customized solutions [38].…”

“…It is well known that health literacy positively influences patient outcomes [1,9,20,24,32,44]. Use of written patient education materials is a time-tested method of educating the patient and their caregivers about various ailments and their management [2,11,12,44].…”

Development of an illustrated medication schedule as a low-literacy patient education tool

“…Medication adherence also improved in two related studies that involved a color-coded medication schedule and a reminder chart that displayed which time of day patients should take each medication [39,40].…”

Health literacy and the risk of hospital admission

“…Further studies are necessary to determine whether the results of this study are generalizable to other patient populations, whether the relation results directly from problems with patient-provider communication, and whether innovative approaches to improve communication and patient education can improve outcomes. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] …”