Health Promotion week 4 peers resp

respond to at least two other student posts.  Your responses should be thoughtful, respectful, and substantially add value to the discussion.  You should respond to your peers throughout the unit week, but all responses need to be submitted no later than the last day of the unit week.

1st peer post

Melinda Goebel

Health literacy is a person’s inability to understand and use health information and services to make decisions and understand their health information (Health Literacy, 2021) . This is a common issue that affects health care workers. I have had a few examples as of lately of where health literacy was an issue in treating patients.

Recently I had a patient who had mild dementia that caused an issue with health literacy. This patient came in with A. fib RVR and an AKI. This person took lisinopril at home for hypertension. In the hospital the doctors decided to hold the lisinopril due to the AKI. The patient was very upset that they were not receiving the lisinopril and was convinced that the lack of blood pressure medication would cause them to have a stroke. It was explained to the patient why they weren’t receiving the lisinopril and that their blood pressure was in a normal range without it. It was also explained they were more at risk of a stroke due to a. fib and not due to the lack of lisinopril they were receiving. The doctors, family, and I all attempted different ways to educate the patient but in the end, they became more agitated and attempted to leave against medical advice.

A few evidence based strategies that improve health literacy include:

1. Giving printed information that is easy to read and understand in their primary language (health.gov).

2. Speaking in terms that they understand and explaining reasoning and connections. For example, we can’t give you this medication because your kidneys are showing signs of stress based on the lab levels we have and this medication can cause more stress on the kidneys, so we aren’t going to give it until we see that your kidneys are healing. We are helping the kidneys heal by giving you fluids.

National action plan to improve health literacy. (n.d.). https://health.gov/our-work/national-health-initiatives/health-literacy/national-action-plan-improve-health-literacy 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, July 7). 
Health literacy. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-public-liaison/clear-communication/health-literacy 

2nd peer post

Taylor Overcash

Nov 20, 2023 at 1:25 PM

NUR 3200 Week 4 Discussion Post

Describe an issue where health literacy posed a problem in your practice or experience.

Medication errors pose a considerable health risk for patients with low health literacy. Errors can occur from the start of the prescription to the administration. Patient admissions often begin with a medication history, and many patients do not know what they have taken or why they are taking it. When questioning which pills an individual takes in the morning or evening, the patient may frequently reply with the colors or shapes rather than the names. A poor understanding of managing health with medications can lead to many problems. The patient may forget a dose, take the drug at the wrong time, or take too much or too little. Depending on what medications a patient needs, errors can be fatal.

Research and describe two evidence-based strategies that can be used to promote health literacy in the clinical setting. 

The 
Teach-Back Technique is an opportunity to have the patient explain how they understand the information given to them. This technique uses open-ended questions so that the educator can evaluate if the patient understands the information. This strategy is helpful at this bedside when giving discharge instructions. One study found improved patient satisfaction with medication education, discharge information, and health management when using the teach-back method (Yen & Leasure, 2019). Education should begin when the patient arrives at the hospital, but patients should also know how to reference materials or ask questions. 
Printed materials can help the audience understand and reference material later. “Studies have shown that picture-based instructions promote better understanding of how to take medication and decrease medication errors among patients” (2010, p.10). Many tools are available to healthcare staff with easy-to-read printouts or graphs since some patients may not learn auditorily but visually. Having an informative means of communication increases the likelihood of patient comprehension. Goetz explains in his TED talk an initiative to re-design patient information in an easy-to-read format so patients can better understand their lab reports (Goetz, 2010). The data provided to patients should be individualized and in a way they can understand. The healthcare team must assess if the patient has a correct understanding while reinforcing their knowledge throughout their care.

Reference: 

Goetz, Thomas. (2010). TEDMED. Retrieved from https://www.tedmed.com/talks/show?id=7053.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2010). 
National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. Washington, DC: Author.

Yen, P. H., & Leasure, A. R. (2019). 
Use and Effectiveness of the Teach-Back Method in Patient Education and Health Outcomes.Federal Practitioner, 36(6), 284-289. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6590951/.