Abstract
Objective: To explore the self-reported techniques used by health care professionals to enhance communication with patients with low health literacy. Methods: A survey was administered to physicians (n=99), nurses (n=87), and pharmacists (n=121) attending continuing education programs on patient safety and health care quality. Each was asked to rate communication-enhancing strategies by frequency of use and effectiveness with patients with low health literacy. Results: Using simple language (94.7%), handing out printed materials (70.3%), and speaking more slowly (67.3%) were the most commonly used strategies. Strategies currently recommended by health literacy experts were less routinely used. Conclusions: Further research is needed that evaluates the effectiveness of communication strategies for patients with limited literacy skills within diverse clinical encounters.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | s96-s104 |
Journal | American Journal of Health Behavior |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | SUPPL. 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2007 |
Keywords
- Communication
- Health literacy
- Patient education
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Social Psychology