That's a very good question and could be explored through a carefully-designed and well-executed focus group process. A good research project in the area of health literacy - although could be difficult to implement due to varying target populations, regional differences, etc. Perhaps a multi-center approach? Not knowing the health literacy literature in any extensive way, this may have been done before.

Mary Jo Knobloch, MPH
Division of Education-Resident Research
Marshfield Clinic - ML1
1000 N. Oak Avenue
Marshfield, WI 54449
715-221-8919
Fax: 715-387-5163
knobloch.maryjo at marshfieldclinic.org



-----Original Message-----
From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Julie McKinney
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 8:49 AM
To: healthliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 2291] Wednesday Question: Advice for the public

Hi Everyone,

First, let me say Happy Fall to you all, and I hope you all had a nice summer! We are now resuming the Wednesday Questions on the list, and I look forward to the coming year!

Last week, Ilene had a good question that I am re-stating as this week's Wed. Question: What advice can we give to adults with literacy challenges and to the general public to help create an atmosphere that will allow all people to take care of their health without confusion and embarrassment?

She raises a good point that it is not just doctors and health professionals who need to be aware of health literacy challenges, but all of us. Those with literacy challenges, or who are new to the English language need to be advised on how to address their health care needs, and everyone around them must also know how to be helpful.

How can we facilitate this?

All the best,
Julie

Julie McKinney
Health Literacy List Moderator
World Education
jmckinney at worlded.org

>>> <IHABRAMSON at aol.com> 09/04/08 7:41 PM >>>


Hello Everyone.

We have all seen some fine materials developed for clinicians dealing with possibly low literate patients. What ( or even how) can we advise an adult illiterate needing to visit a medical facility?  Remember - we cannot tell  who is who by looking and chances are, if the person has underdeveloped reading/arithmetical skill, he or she has probably not told anyone.
Thus,  there would
be no one to accompany that adult.  But such men and women  still seek the same healthcare as everyone else does.

Does anyone have some shamefree advice we can give to the general public and thus, include the illiterate people in this safety net?

Thank you for your thoughts and time.
Ilene
_ihabramson at aol.com_ (mailto:ihabramson at aol.com)



In a message dated 9/4/2008 12:30:17 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, Rolande_DAmour at phac-aspc.gc.ca writes:

Hello  everyone,

Here is the link to the Registered Nurses Association of  Ontario 's website with some Canadian info  FYI

http://www.rnao.org/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=2364&SiteNodeID=461


Thank  you for providing me with links and information on health literacy. I am  starting my last year in the Master's program and will be working on  a project on my 2 passions: health literacy and Creutsfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Kind regards,

Rolande

Rolande  D'Amour
Infirmière-conseil/Nurse consultant
Système de   surveillance
de la maladie de Creutzfeldt-Jakob /
Creutzfeldt-Jakob  Disease Surveillance System Agence de santé publique du Canada/ Public  Health Agency of Canada
Tel: (613) 946-9863 / 1-888-489-2999
Fax: (613)  952-6668





Jeanne McGee
<jmcgee at pacifier.
com>       To
Sent by:                 The Health and Literacy Discussion
healthliteracy-bo          List <healthliteracy at nifl.gov>
unces at nifl.gov          cc

Subject
2008-09-03 01:20           [HealthLiteracy 2279] New
PM           communication toolkit  for
explaining   quality of care

Please respond to
The Health and
Literacy
Discussion List
<healthliteracy at n
ifl.gov>





Hello all,

I'm writing to let you about a  new resource you can use to help create consumer information materials on  quality of care and evidence-based medicine. This "Communication Toolkit:  Using Information to Get High Quality Care" was developed by the American  Institutes for Research and my company, McGee & Evers Consulting, Inc.,  with support from the California Health Care Foundation. It was developed  to help employers, labor unions, and others frame and deliver messages to  employees about the meaning and importance of getting evidence-based health  care. It is hosted by the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) at its  website:
http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/benefitstopics/et_communications.cfm

This  new toolkit provides 14 Word documents you can download and ainclude  using medical evidence to guide treatment choices, finding and using  information about quality of care, and taking an active part in managing  your own care. The documents were created using guidelines for making  written material clear and effective. They are action-oriented, written to  be suitable for people with a range of literacy skills, and they have been  thoroughly tested. To assess appeal and comprehension, the project  conducted a total of 57 two-hour individual interviews with people in  several cities. The toolkit project team used feedback from interviewees to  revise the documents and then tested them again.

I welcome your  feedback on these materials. If you use them and are willing to share your  experiences, I'd love to hear from you.

Best wishes,

Jeanne  McGee

McGee & Evers Consulting, Inc.

1924 NW 111^th  Street

Vancouver WA 98685

360  574-4744

jmcgee at pacifier.com

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