I agree:
 
Healthcare Provider sounds like an insurance provider in American publications.
Healthcare Professional sounds like doctors, nurses, and other hands-on, front line professionals.
Caregiver sounds like everything from the friendly neighbour who pops over to check you are OK if you live alone to a live-in nurse's aid who helps take care of basic needs, like food, warmth, housekeeping, etc.
 
It would be interesting to take a look at these publications to analyse their phrasing and terminology from a gender-based perspective. Healthcare Professional has a distinctly male inference, while caregiver, with its nurturing inference, sounds distinctly female.
 
Also, I have found that a few of these patient empowerment brochures have a distinctly combative tone. Why can't these brochures have a collaborative approach. Even the Ask Me 3 program had a welcoming feel, as well as an education section for frontline medical staff. Heck, weren't there badges and pins for staff to wear to open the lines of communication.
 
I also have to point out that "shaking your head to say no, you don't understand" is incredibly flawed advice: in some cultures, head shaking is the affirmative!
 
So, the way forward: how would we improve these documents? Are they beyond repair? Do we like something about the Questions but not the Answers?
 
Happy Monday!
Nicola
-----Original Message-----
From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Linda Rohret
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 8:23 AM
To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 1911] Re: The Joint Commission'sHealth LiteracyCampaign



Jan,

I agree with each of your reasons, and much more.  I think you have a right, Jan, to "go on all day!"  I wonder if there was a clear understanding of health literacy when writing for this piece and the campaign.  

I don't think you are picky, there are multiple issues in addition to yours:  layout, "caregivers" interchanged with "doctor," reading level (I wonder, didn't take time; at least certain words used), so many issues in general. 

This listserv addressed "healthcare provider" vs "healthcare professional" verbiage and now there is a "caregiver" term?  I think most individuals think of caregivers as those family and friends to provide personal, individual care to someone who is ill or cannot care for oneself.

Might this listserv provide feedback to the Joint Commission.  

---

Linda L. Rohret, M.A., R.H.Ed. 
Special Projects Coordinator
North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Program
DHHS--Division of Public Health
1922 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC  27699-1922
Tele:   919 707-5331
Fax:    919 870-4811



Jan Potter wrote:


Okay, I know that I am being obnoxiously picky, but I do not care for these materials at all.  I do not think that they are very easy to read for a number of reasons. 

 

1.      "Caregiver"? - I wasn't even sure what they meant with this word.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never seen that on an elementary school spelling test.  Strangely enough, the Spanish translation is "health professional" which makes it even weirder.

2.      Everything in this pamphlet screams "this is your problem" which I find difficult.

3.      The remarks about culture are just bizarre.  "Hello, my name is Jan and I just want to let you know that my culture is different.  In my culture, we are taught respect for others and so, you - as my "caregiver" need to treat me right."  Yeah.  I can see those words coming out of anyone's mouth....

4.      The grammar is poor.  "That you know about other treatments available to you."  This smacks of "okay, never use compound sentences if you want to write low-literacy materials."  So instead, it's okay to just put fragments in there?

5.      Why ask the caregiver "Is there someone who can help you understand your doctor, nurse, and other caregivers?"  All these questions on the front page are strange.  A more understandable question would be "Is there someone here who can spend some time with me and help me to understand?"

 

I could go on all day....

 

 

 

 

Jan Potter, MSTC

Communications Specialist

Partnership for Health and Accountability

770-249-4549

www.gha.org/pha 

 

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

 

This Email is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521 and may be legally privileged. The information contained in this Email is intended only for use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, please destroy the email after advising by reply that you erroneously received this.  If applicable, the receipt by anyone other than the designated recipient does not waive the attorney-client privilege, nor will it constitute a waiver of the work-product doctrine. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message and notify us via e-mail to ( PHA at gha.org)

 

-----Original Message-----
From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov [ mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Julie McKinney
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 5:55 PM
To: healthliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 1909] The Joint Commission's Health LiteracyCampaign

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Check out these new materials from the Joint Commission. Let the list know what you think of them and the campaign in general!

 

Have a good weekend,

Julie

 

*******************

The Joint Commission is launching a national campaign to help Americans prevent health care errors by promoting health literacy.  Understanding Your Caregivers provides patients questions and answers that will help them better understand the care they receive.  Among the topics are: 

 

- What can you do if you don't understand what your caregiver is saying?

- What can you do if they explain and you still don't understand?

- How do you understand all the instructions related to medicines, or even remember all of the medicines?

 

The campaign is part of their national patient safety Speak Up program which offers downloadable, easy-to-read brochures on issues such as preventing medication mistakes, avoiding wrong site surgery, and recovering after leaving the hospital.

 

To download Understanding Your Caregivers brochures, visit http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/SpeakUp/sp_understanding.htm

 

To download Speak Up brochures, visit http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/SpeakUp/

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

Julie McKinney

Health Literacy List Moderator

World Education

jmckinney at worlded.org

----------------------------------------------------

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