LI Course
CE Hours: 3 contact hours

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview: The purpose of this institute is examine clear health communication strategies for developing relevant messages, materials and media including patient education and navigation materials and research documents and tools. The application of systematic development processes is highlighted to ensure understanding, acceptability, efficacy, and usability of your communications. As background, the importance of creating appropriate information is well recognized in light of the increasing complexity of our public health care system that requires a number of skills including health knowledge acquisition, navigation, negotiation, interpretation, assimilation and comprehension to name a few. Further, national imperatives such as Healthy People 2010 Objectives and the IOM Health Literacy Report call for the creation of culturally, linguistically and literacy relevant communications. Ongoing demands are often placed on community members to try to interact with a system that is often not set up to fully engage them in a meaningful and easy way. Moreover, complex terminology is often used and education and research materials are developed without audience verification. Thus learner-centered communications, in consideration of culture and literacy, is needed for effective exchange of information and for impacting health disparities. This approach means that health communications are not geared to “one size fits all” approach. Rather, communications are viewed as dynamic, calling for inclusion of worldviews that are important to those to whom they are addressed. Thus, the goal of this workshop is to enhance awareness for placing communications within a personal, everyday context for contributing to satisfying and effective interactions, and efficient and timely use of resources. The primary message behind this workshop is that the use of effective communication principles that are learner driven can positively impact effective health education processes from the perspectives of patient, family and healthcare systems. Attention to techniques and methods that address foster therapeutic relationships for enhanced communications and beneficial public health care are highlighted during this session. We also examine skill-building and nuts and bolts approaches for creating clear and useful information for use in the public health setting, particularly in outreach and community-based research programs. The use of the CLEAN Look Checklist (Culture, Literacy, Education, Assessment, and Networking) is highlighted for identifying cues and strategies to achieve relevant outcomes.

Session Objectives: Upon completion of this l/2 day workshop, participants will be able to · Cite three ways that health literacy and culture impact health communications. · Explain the meaning of learner-centered approaches for developing relevant health materials. · Restate several ways to assess understanding and meaning through learner verification and pretesting techniques · Illustrate the use of the CLEAN checklist.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing