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Workshops
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| Workshop A-6: Health literacy: innovations and policy Given the recent attention to health literacy with the IOM Report, the AHRQ Study, and the Surgeon General’s involvement, the importance of health literacy as a public health issue is growing. In addition, significant links have been made by the IOM Report between health literacy and health disparities. In this session, replicable techniques for addressing low health literacy will be addressed. This session will cover the subject of Health Literacy focusing on policy, research and tools. One speaker will present on the IOM Health Literacy Report, the second will present on the Partnership for Clear Health Communication and will highlight the Ask Me 3 tool, and the third presenter will speak on a grassroots innovative health literacy project. The presentation will focus on health literacy in racially and ethnically diverse populations. Moderator: Previously, Joel was at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, NJ where he worked with the Priority Populations team on developing programs to improve access the health care services for underserved populations. These programs included “Hablamos Juntos: Improving Patient-Provider Communication for Latinos,” and “Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education.” Prior to that, he worked at the National Research Council in Washington, DC on a variety of health and social science related research projects. He has also worked as a consultant on international health projects in Peru and Tanzania. He has a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and a BA in History from Santa Clara University.
Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion: Report and Discussion on the Recent IOM ReportAs a member of the committee which produced this report, I will present key findings and discuss their implications. The committee charge was to:
Report recommendations will be presented and discussed. These cover topics such as extent of the problem, need for data, roles of federal agencies, roles of research funders, education of health professionals, public education, cultural, social and economic factors and recommendations for changes in health care systems. Susan C. Scrimshaw is Dean of the School of Public Health, and Professor of Community Health Sciences and Anthropology, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on family planning and fertility decision making, improving pregnancy outcomes, violence prevention, and culturally appropriate delivery of health care. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a Fellow of the American Anthropological Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an appointed member of the Chicago Board of Health and Illinois State Board of Health. Recent appointments include Chair of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Communication for Behavior Change in the 21st Century: Improving the Health of Diverse Populations; memberships on the Institute of Medicine Board on Global Health, the Institute of Medicine Committee on Health Literacy; the CDC Task Force on Community Preventive Services; the US-Mexico Foundation for Science; and Chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health. She is bilingual and multicultual, having been reared in Guatemala.
Partnership for Clear Health Communication and Ask Me 3Dr. Sharon Ottey will provide background on the National Medical Association’s work on cultural competence, and she will address health literacy in the Partnership for Clear Health Communication, the tool Ask Me 3, and in her practice. Dr. Sharon Allison-Ottey is a fellowship trained Geriatrician and residency trained in Internal Medicine. She is currently in practice with COSHAR Medical Inc. and serves as the Chief Executive Officer. Additionally, she is one of the founding board members of the COSHAR Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on impacting the health of the nation, one community at a time. Dr. Allison-Ottey’s current research focus includes the Role of Spirituality in Medical Outcomes, Health Literacy, Osteoporosis in African Americans and Direct to Consumer Marketing’s effect on physicians and patients. She continues to teach medical students, residents and fellows in Maryland. She is a consultant for several Fortune 500 companies, medical organizations and professionals. She serves on several national and state appointed commissions and continues to advocate for improved health care and the elimination of health disparities. She is active in numerous medical, political and civic organizations and is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of the National Medical Association, which is the oldest and largest association of African American physicians. It is notable that she was the youngest elected Trustee in the 105-year history of the National Medical Association. Additionally, she is an active member of the American Medical Association, American Geriatric Association and the American College of Physicians.
Health Literacy: Policy and Practice Panel - Improve Health Literacy and Self-Management Skills of Chinese American Patients with DiabetesBrief Description - The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (CBWCHC), in collaboration with local and national partners conducted a three-session diabetes management workshop for 50 Chinese residents with diabetes. The intervention is part of a 2-year project titled The New York’s Chinese-American Diabetes Health Literacy Initiative, funded by the Pfizer Health Literacy Foundation. The goal of the intervention is to improve diabetes education and care among Chinese American patients by improving their health literacy and self-management skills. Through active learning and fun activities, the participants learned the signs and symptoms of diabetes, seriousness, medication management, and practiced skills in adapting a healthy diet and increasing physical activity. The intervention incorporates health literacy principles and components of culture such as rituals, language, and ways of life in designing the curricula and diabetes health messages. Successes - Workshop participants learned specific self-management skills that have allowed them to adopt healthy and active lifestyles such as maintaining a balanced diet, testing blood glucose levels regularly, and coping with stress associated with diabetes. Pre and Post tests demonstrated participants’ knowledge gains about diabetes and improvements in self-management. Charts review indicated improvements in HgbA1C and blood cholesterol levels among participants. Challenges and Limitations – Several challenges and limitations were encountered and overcome. It has been a challenge to explain the concept of health literacy to providers and community members. There is a lack of culturally and language appropriate health literacy tools to assess health literacy levels among the Chinese immigrant population. There is also a lack of culturally relevant and literacy appropriate self-help materials and intervention tools for Chinese individuals with diabetes. Another major challenge was that there is too much material to cover in health interventions: increase health literacy and basic health knowledge, address cultural beliefs and misconceptions, improve health communications between patients and providers, and practice self-management skills. Lessons
Learned - The intervention efforts need to involve participants
as active partners and incorporate their concerns into the workshops.
Field test health materials and intervention tools with target audience
for cultural relevancy and literacy appropriateness is necessary. Educational
materials such as diet intake, exercise demonstration diagram, and sample
recipes need to be simple, concise, and easy to understand to meet the
needs of low literate diabetic patients. The CBWCHC will continue to collaborate
with partners to implement and evaluate culturally relevant, literacy
appropriate intervention workshops for Chinese patients with diabetes.
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| Fourth
National Conference is presented by State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care, Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations |
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| As with the rest of Diversity Rx, this section
is a work in progress and we welcome information on other efforts, programs,
and reports that will expand upon the information offered here. Please
let us know if you have other examples to include here. |
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