Promoting and Evaluating a health literacy intervention in African Americans: The Ask Me 3 Intiative

The goal of this project is to implement and evaluate a solution-based program created by Pfizer Initiatives and Partners for Clear Health Communication to enhance open dialogue between patients and physicians in North Nashville, Tennessee. Ask Me 3 is a health communication initiative that encourages open dialogue between patients and health care providers. The objective of this study is to find out if the Ask Me 3 questions improve patient provider communication and patient knowledge about their health among a medically underserved African American population by encouraging the use of the Ask Me 3 questions. Methods: We used a convenience sample of 57 African American internal medicine and ob/gyn patients in the clinic waiting room. Demographic information and the Revised Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, test were administered. Patients were asked to use the Ask Me 3 questions during their physician visit and then asked to complete a post test to assess how well the question worked for them while communicating with the physician.

Results: Of the patients surveyed, 44% are at risk for poor health literacy. When asked if they “understood what the doctor is talking about,” 49% reported all the time, 37% often, 8% sometimes, and 5% rarely. Preliminary results show that the patients overall felt the Ask Me 3 questions improved communication during their visit with the physician.

Conclusion: The Ask Me 3 program shows promise as a unique project that could enhance communication between health care providers and underserved African Americans in Nashville, Tennessee.