Understanding and Advancing Organizational Health Literacy Within a Public Health Setting

Abstract

Background: Organizational health literacy (OHL) within the public health setting is lacking. Objective: The aim of this study was to form a health literacy (HL) improvement team consisting of university researchers and Virginia Department of Health (VDH) district directors and staff to assess and improve OHL practices of VDH staff in four medically underserved health districts in southwest Virginia. Methods: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit guided this mixed-methods needs assessment and improvement plan. VDH staff completed a 44-item survey adapted from this Toolkit and a roundtable discussion to indicate their perceptions of current OHL practices. VDH clients completed a survey including seven items measuring perceptions of staff OHL practices and three items measuring subjective HL. Key Results: About one-half of VDH staff ( n = 252, 88% female, average age 49 ± 12 years, 23% ≤ high school education [HS]) reported “doing well” across all OHL domains. Staff survey and roundtable discussion revealed the need to strengthen the written communication domain. Among 185 VDH clients (82% female, average age 33 ± 14 years, 40% ≤ HS), perceptions of staff OHL practices were high, ranging from 3.07 to 3.64 (scale of 1–4). Client HL status was significantly positively correlated ( p < .01–.05) with 5 of 7 OHL practices. Findings aided development and initial implementation of an OHL improvement plan, including e-newsletters and in-person workshops. On average, 60% of staff opened quarterly e-newsletters. Staff ratings of the Clear Communication Index workshop were high in terms of utility and applicability of content. Conclusions: Results reflected notable strengths and weaknesses in current OHL practices from staff and client perspectives, with the greatest need identified in written communication. E-newsletter series and in-person workshops on the Clear Communication Index helped lay groundwork for additional HL improvement activities for VDH staff. Limitations and future recommendations for public health settings are discussed. [ HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice . 2021;5(1):e35–e48.] Plain Language Summary: This study describes use of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit to conduct an organizational health literacy needs assessment and improvement plan in a public health setting, the Virginia Department of Health. Assessment of staff and clients revealed strengths and weaknesses in organizational health literacy practices. Feedback guided efforts to improve organizational health literacy capacity.

Acute Perioperative Pain Management of the Orthopaedic Patient

“…Healthcare literacy affects a patient's ability to obtain, understand, and apply healthcare information, and the clinician's ability to communicate and educate. Demographics that have typically been associated with low health literacy (e.g., age, sex, race, and level of education) may be shifting, highlighting the case for a universal health literacy approach that reduces barriers to make it easier for individuals to navigate, understand, and use healthcare resources (Feinberg et al, 2022; Kružliaková et al, 2021). Health disparities accentuate the variability in access to information that patients and caregivers use to understand and make healthcare decisions, ultimately resulting in inequitable healthcare treatment and outcomes (Feinberg et al, 2022).…”

The Shift from Individual to Organizational Health Literacy: Implications for Kidney Healthcare Leaders and Clinicians

“…Recognizing that addressing HL is critical to delivering person-centred healthcare, the need to tackle system-level factors to ensure that consumers can make informed decisions is beginning to be globally acknowledged by healthcare organizations [24]. One way to raise HL capabilities in a population is to develop health-literate systems of care [25,26]. OHL describes an approach that healthcare organizations can take to make it easier for individuals to engage with healthcare providers and processes, navigate healthcare systems, understand health-related information, and have greater control of health-related decisions [27].…”

A Fuzzy MCDM Approach for Structured Comparison of the Health Literacy Level of Hospitals

“…Despite the different methods and procedures used to measure the actual level of literacy requirements, and despite the different tools used, the reviewed and applied research can be classified in this regard into four types. The first type is focused on measuring the level of adherence to literacy practices according to specific factors for the purpose of identifying and improving weaknesses in a specific healthcare institution [43] or in a group of institutions [44][45][46]. The second type is focused on measuring the relative importance of the areas and indicators of applying literacy practices for the purpose of determining the most important or most appropriate factors for the institution or a specific health sector [47].…”