Oral

Limited health literacy, or the diminished capacity to obtain, understand, and act upon health-related information, has been identified as a major factor in poor health outcomes. While pervasive across different populations, racial and ethnic minorities and the elderly may be at greatest risk, with potential implications for disparate care outcomes. As defined, health literacy is not simply a ‘‘patient problem,’’ but one shared by the provider and health care system with implications for the quality of medical care delivery. Arguably, the problem of health literacy places a greater burden on the clinician to improve communication and ensure patient understanding, especially related to the delivery of evidence-based practice, which explicitly requires that clinicians effectively elicit (and incorporate) patient preferences into care decisions. Often, health literacy interventions focus on the patient. Evidence suggests, however, that clinicians often misclassify the literacy abilities of patients or fail to consider or implement universally recommended strategies to improve patient understanding. This session presents research on health literacy at the intersection of medicine and public health; addressing the issue within the context of care delivery. It also explores solutions to improve care/health outcomes for at-risk patients and reduce racial and ethnic disparities.

Session Objectives: At the end of the session participants will be able to: 1. Discuss health literacy at the intersection of medicine and public health; 2. List 1-2 barriers and 1-2 approaches to improving care/health outcomes for people with limited health literacy; 3. Describe how system and cultural factors impact the sensitivity of providers to the needs of patients with limited health literacy and the quality of health services delivery; and 4. Suggest at least one way in which clinicians can incorporate health literacy within their professional or personal environment,[e.g., educating health professionals, deploying an assessment tool, using literacy levels to identify health education tools, vehicles, etc.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)