Center for Health Literacy Featured by AAMC

By ChaseYavondaC

AAMCNews at news.aamc.org recently turned to Kristie Hadden, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Health Literacy, for an article on training doctors to speak clearly to patients. “Say That Again? Teaching Physicians About Plain Language” was published on the online news magazine Oct. 11.

“In the past, it may have been enough for doctors to know the science and know the medicine,” Hadden said. “But as the health care industry becomes more aware of resources and costs – specifically the cost of preventable conditions and unnecessary procedures caused by a lack of health literacy – it is clear that the true scope of health care goes beyond science and medicine to include effective communication.”

“It’s important for UAMS and organizations like the AAMC to get the word out about this shift in the way we think about health care and the way we train physicians,” Hadden said.

Hadden told AAMCNews that low health literacy in Arkansas has been costing the state between an estimated $1 billion and $3 billion a year in preventable health care expenses.

Low health literacy is defined as a person’s inability to understand or apply basic health information and services to make decisions affecting their health. When patients don’t understand what the doctor is saying, they may go home and not follow instructions, leaving the condition essentially untreated and leading to subsequent doctor visits or procedures. Low health literacy can also cause medication errors, hospital admissions, unnecessary ER visits and missed screenings and shots.

Leaders in this area are working to improve patient health care literacy, but as Hadden and others in the article noted, the responsibility for effective communication doesn’t lie solely with the patient. Doctors and nurses should also be aware of the issue and do their best to speak plainly with patients and make sure they are being understood.

In 2015, UAMS rolled out the interprofessional education model for its medical, nursing, pharmacy, health professions and public health students. Health literacy training was weaved throughout the program. So far, 1,800 students have completed activities that include health literacy best practices.

Students are reminded that medical words are not always familiar to their patients. They are taught to prompt the patient to repeat medical instructions back to them. Students are taught to be brief, as studies have shown that patients stop absorbing information after the first few minutes. And students are trained to not to make assumptions about health literacy. “Research shows that practitioners are poor predictors of a patient’s health literacy,” Hadden told AAMCNews. “The patient may be a CEO or head of the biggest church in town and may not understand what the doctor is saying. You can’t predict health literacy by someone’s income level, education, or race.”

The AAMC is a nonprofit dedicated to transforming health care through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care and groundbreaking medical research. Its members comprise all 145 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC serves the leaders of America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and their nearly 160,000 faculty members, 83,000 medical students, and 115,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and its member medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org.