Health literacy and cultural competence training in primary care: A pilot project

BACKGROUND: Recently, the Health Research and Services Administration launched an online training tool titled Unified Health Communication (UHC) for health care providers to improve their patient communication based on their patients' language, cultural associations, and health literacy proficiency. Current estimates of US health literacy indicate that less than 20% of the population is considered “proficient”. INTERVENTION: In order to address the relationship between health literacy and health outcomes, providers may improve treatment by learning about health literacy. The UHC has not been tested for clinical efficacy, translation to health outcomes of patients, or implementation issues. Despite this, the American Board of Family Medicine is considering the training as a requirement for board certification. National priorities value the ideas behind the intervention, but without the proper research, the tool cannot be publicized or shared effectively. METHODS: Using the bench-to-bedside paradigm, the current research will present the results of a pilot test (Phase 1) of the UHC course among Family and Internal Medicine Residents at an Academic Health Science Center with a large underserved population. RESULTS: The preliminary data are being collected and analyzed to evaluate providers' views on the importance of health literacy in their patient encounters, the usefulness of the training, and to justify a Phase II trial of the UHC with hopes to rapidly circulate on a large scale. The session will provide fully analyzed data on this randomized pilot trial, and plans for continued testing within the parameters of the “3 T's Roadmap to Transform US Health Care.”