Addressing Low Health Literacy Levels of Diabetic Patients In Primary Care

Abstract

Purpose. This quality improvement project focused on educating healthcare employees regarding health literacy through an educational intervention to increase their knowledge surrounding health literacy and health literacy universal precautions. Additionally, this project aimed to assess the available diabetic patient education materials at the site of implementation to ensure the appropriate reading level for optimal comprehension. Background. Impacting nearly one in three patients diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus, inadequate health literacy is a multifaceted issue that is largely connected to a patient’s overall health status, ability to comprehend basic health information, and overall utilization of health resources. Defined as an individual’s capability to ascertain, grasp, and interpret the basic information necessary to make decisions concerning one’s health, adequate health literacy levels are essential to the appropriate self-management of chronic diseases such as type II diabetes. Extending beyond the ability to read, health literacy encompasses skills such as writing, speaking, and applying numerical and conceptual competencies within the context of health. Up until recent, efforts to define health literacy have surpassed the development of measurement tools and interventions to remediate inadequate health literary levels. Methods. This quality improvement project was designed to utilize a single group of participants who underwent a pretest and posttest to compare the outcome of interest before and after the application of the educational intervention. Participants included staff members employed at the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in southern Arizona. The final sample size was eight. Data was collected through the form of surveys. Results. Key findings included an overall increase in knowledge regarding health literacy and how to implement universal health literacy precautions. This project also found that three out of the six diabetic patient education materials exceeded the average reading level of the adult American. Conclusions. This project supports the need for additional research concerning interventions to alleviate inadequate health literacy levels. Furthermore, this project indicates that an educational intervention regarding health literacy is an effective way to increase healthcare provider knowledge surrounding universal health literacy precautions.