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Strategies To Improve Communication Between Pharmacy Staff and Patients

Training Program for Pharmacy Staff

Curriculum Guide (continued)

Slide 26

Patient-Friendly Materials

This slide describes the elements of patient-friendly written materials. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

Written materials are easy-to-read if they use:

  • Few messages, with no assumptions that patients know about how the body works, diseases, or medications.
  • Short, simple, and familiar words.
  • Easy-to-understand phrasing of numeric information.
  • Large, sans serif fonts.
  • Short, simple, and familiar words.
  • Short lines and lots of white space.
  • Simple illustrations that are directly applicable to the text.

Slide 27

Help me make sure I've explained things clearly so far...

This slide describes the steps in using a 'teach back' with patients. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

Let's try our own teach-back now...

Slide 28

What questions do you have?

This slide is displayed throughout the 'teach back' practice session during the presentation. There is no text description accompanying this slide. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

No notes are provided for this slide.

Slide 29

Overview

This slide provides the transition to the fifth and final section of the presentation. There is no text description accompanying this slide. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

No notes are provided for this slide.

Slide 30

Hands on Practice!

This slide provides instructions for hands-on practice for participants in the presentation. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

This last section of the training allows you to practice the techniques presented.

[For this section you will need the included handouts (Web Version; PDF File, 245 KB, PDF Help).]

Directions:

  • Split your participants into groups of three.
  • Each group will get one copy of each handout (instructions for pharmacist, patient, and observer roles).
  • This is a role-play exercise in which everyone with the "pharmacist" role will practice counseling the "patient" using the clear health communication techniques covered in the presentation.
  • The "observer" will provide feedback to the "pharmacist" after he or she is done "counseling."
  • After each round, members of each group should switch roles.
  • All three people in each group should have a chance to act as the pharmacist.
  • This exercise will require about 15 minutes total.

Slide 31

Role Play Discussion

This slide lists three different questions to be discussed during the role play discussion. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

  • When you were the pharmacist, did you do anything different than you usually do when counseling a patient?
  • Was explaining things using clear plain language hard? Was thinking of a way to clarify something the patient didn't understand the first time hard? Was it easier for the third pharmacist than the first?
  • What did you notice when it was your turn to observe? How might you counsel patients differently when you get back to your pharmacy?

Slide 32

Wrap Up

This slide provides a wrap up and summary of the presentation. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

In sum, we need to adopt Universal Precautions since we do not know which patients have low health literacy. In fact, research shows that all patients, even those with high health literacy, benefit from clear communication.

Today we've gone over some of the strategies to improve communication. It will take practice to incorporate these strategies into your daily routine.

  • What might prevent you from implementing the strategies we've been discussing?
  • How might you overcome those barriers?

What questions do you still have about what we've talked about today?

Slide 33

References

This slide lists the references used to create this presentation. For details, go to the Text Description [D].

[D] Select for Text Description.

Finally, I want to point out that included in your handouts is a list of references you can consult if you want to learn more about health literacy.

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References

1. Davis TC, Wolf MS, Bass, PF III, Middlebrooks M, Kennen E, Baker DW, Bennett CL, Durazo-Arvizu R, Bocchini A, Savory S, Parker RM. Low Literacy Impairs Comprehension of Prescription Drug Warning Labels. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2006;21(8):847–851.
2. Fang MC, Machtinger EL, Wang F, Schillinger D. Health Literacy and Anticoagulation-related Outcomes Among Patients Taking Warfarin. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2006;21(8):841-846.
3. Freidland RB. Understanding Health Literacy: New Estimates of the Costs of Inadequate Health Literacy. Washington, DC: National Academy on an Aging Society; 1998.
4. Gazmararian JA, Baker DW, Williams MV, Parker RM, Scott TL, Green DC, Fehrenbach SN, Ren J, Koplan JP. Health Literacy Among Medicare Enrollees in a Managed Care Organization. JAMA. 1999;281:545-551.
5. Gazmararian JA, Kripalani S, Miller MJ, Echt KV, Ren J, Rask K. Factors Associated with Medication Refill Adherence in Cardiovascular-related Diseases: A Focus on Health Literacy. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2006;21(12):1215-C15.
6. Howard DH, Gazmararian J, Parker RM. The Impact of Low Health Literacy on the Medical Costs of Medicare Managed Care Enrollees. The American Journal of Medicine. 2005;118(4):371-377.
7. Kirsch I, Jungeblut A, Jenkins L, Kolstad A. Adult Literacy in America: A First Look at the Results of the National Adult Literacy Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education; September 1993.
8. Kripalani S, Henderson LE, Chiu EY, Robertson R, Kolm P, Jacobson TA. Predictors of Medication Self-management Skill in a Low-literacy Population. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2006;21(8):803-900.
9. Kripalani S, Weiss BD. Teaching About Health Literacy and Clear Communication. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2006;21(8):888-890.
10. Kutner M, Greenberg E, Jin Y, Paulsen C. The Health Literacy of America's Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2006-483). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics; 2006.
11. National Quality Forum. Safe Practices for Better Healthcare, 2003; Washington, D.C.
12. Parikh N, Parker R, Nurss J. Shame and health literacy: the unspoken connection. Patient Education and Counseling. 1995;25:109–199.
13. Schillinger D, Piette J, Grumbach K, Wang F, Wilson C, Daher C, Leong-Grotz K; Castro C, Bindman AB. Closing the Loop: Physician Communication With Diabetic Patients Who Have Low Health Literacy. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:83-90.
14. Shojania KG, Duncan BW, McDonald KM, Wachter RM, eds. Making Healthcare Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices. Evidence Report No. 43 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ Publication No. 01-E058; 2001.
15. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000.
16. Weiss, BD. Epidemiology of Low Health Literacy. In: Schwartzberg JG, VanGeest JB, Wang CC, eds. Understanding Health Literacy: Implications for Medicine and Public Health. AMA Press; 2005:19.
17. Weiss BD. Health Literacy: A Manual for Clinicians. American Medical Association and American Medical Association Foundation; 2003.

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AHRQ Publication No. 07(08)-0051-1-EF
Current as of October 2007

Internet Citation:

Strategies to Improve Communication Between Pharmacy Staff and Patients: Training Program for Pharmacy Staff. Curriculum Guide. AHRQ Publication No. 07(08)-0051-1-EF, October 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/pharmlit/pharmtrain.htm
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