Help your patient “get” what you just said: A health literacy guide
These simple strategies can help patients with limited health literacy grasp—and retain—vital information about chronic conditions, medications, and more.
Table 3
Tips for helping patients with limited health literacy23-30
| Strategy | Key points |
|---|---|
| Warmly greet each patient | Maintain eye contact when you greet patients and during the interaction to encourage questions and disclosure |
| Use plain language (eg, high blood pressure rather than hypertension; liver instead of hepatic; heart attack, not myocardial infarction) and nonmedical terms, and speak clearly and at a moderate pace | Notice what words your patients use to describe a symptom or condition, and use those words throughout the interaction |
| Limit content | Prioritize what needs to be discussed, and present no more than 3 to 5 key points |
| Use visual aids | Draw simple pictures, use illustrations, demonstrate with 3-D models, or show videos that use nonmedical terms (adapted, as needed, for patients with LEP) |
| Provide encouragement | Encourage patients to ask questions about their health and treatment plans and to take an active role in managing their own health care |
| Assess recall and comprehension | Be specific and concrete, and repeat key points; confirm understanding by using “teach back”—asking patients to explain to you the information you provided to them |
| Take steps to provide additional patient support | Promote adherence and self-management skills by:
|
| LEP, limited English proficiency. | |
Take advantage of telemedicine … Health care delivered by telephone, Internet, video conference, or any other remote network may also be helpful. A Cochrane review found that patients with asthma who were the recipients of such interventions had a significant reduction in hospitalizations, particularly among those with more severe asthma.29 A systematic review found that for patients with diabetes, mobile phone interventions were associated with a statistically significant improvement in glycemic control and self-management.30
… and other providers. Interdisciplinary care has also been found to have a positive effect on management of chronic disease. One study found that patients with diabetes who received telephone coaching by nurses or nutritionists achieved a greater reduction in cholesterol and adherence to lipid-lowering medications than those who received the usual care.31 Direct patient care provided by pharmacists has also been associated with increased medication adherence and improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and HbA1c levels.32
CORRESPONDENCE Michelle A. Roett, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Fort Lincoln Family Medicine Center, 4151 Bladensburg Road, Colmar Manor, MD 20722; mar2@georgetown.edu
