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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Susan Koch-Weser, ScM, Dept. of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard University School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, 617-522-8549, skochwes@hsph.harvard.edu, Lawren H Daltroy, DrPH, RBB Arthritis Research Center, Brigham & Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115, and Rima E. Rudd, ScD, Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard University School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
Researchers in health literacy have yet to examine vocabulary and oral expression as it relates to doctor-patient communication. Health literacy assessments of patients have focused on patient ability to read words or perform tasks, such as interpreting prescription labels. Health literacy assessments of provider communications have focused mainly on the readability and suitability of written materials. We do not have a method to assess the “readability” of oral language used by health care providers, or the “verbal health literacy” of patients. The challenge that oral language presents to a listener flows from several sources -- the vocabulary used, the concentration of unfamiliar words, the syntax, and the listener’s familiarity with the content area and the context of the speech. In the clinical encounter doctors challenge patients with medical terminology, as well as the other language in which it is embedded. Patients with higher literacy levels will be able to meet such challenges, because they will know more of the words used and have a better grasp of the contexts in which they are used. Patients with higher literacy should also be more capable of expressing themselves in words similar to those of the doctor, while patients with limited literacy may have difficulty finding the words to adequately describe symptoms or to ask questions. Using transcripts from 125 clinical encounters, I developed measures to evaluate the role of literacy in the clinical encounter. I will present the theoretical underpinnings of the measures, their construction, and their properties.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to
Keywords: Health Literacy, Communication
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.