Educational Session Development

Question 1

What does it mean to use a health literacy universal precautions approach?

Answer 1

Structuring the delivery of care as if everyone may have limited health literacy

Question 1

What is health literacy?

Answer 1

Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services

The wide range of skills that comprise health literacy and influence a patient’s ability to navigate the healthcare system and make appropriate decisions about his or her health include reading, writing, numeracy, communication, and, increasingly, the use of electronic technology

Question 2

What are some precautions to have in mind with regards to health literacy?

Answer 2

You cannot tell by looking.
Higher literacy skills does not equal understanding.
Anxiety can reduce ability to manage health information.
Everyone benefits from clear communications

Question 3

What did the National Assessment of Adult Literacy find?

Answer 3

36% of adults were identified as having serious limitations in health-literacy skills

Question 4

What are the steps to developing healthcare materials?

Answer 4

1. Identify your audience and key message.
2. Know/identify your intended audience.
3. Choose your mode.
4. Assess for literacy.
5. Pretest if possible.
6. Market it and distribute it.
7. Reevaluate its effectiveness in communicating key messages to your intended audience.

Question 5

What are some comprehensive tips?

Answer 5

Give your audience no more than three or four main ideas per document or section of your document.
Clearly state the actions you want your audience to take
Answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

Question 6

What are some modes you can provide?

Answer 6

Written material
Powerpoint
Visuals

Question 7

What are some things to consider for readability?

Answer 7

Font (type and size)
Paragraphs (less is better)
Line length
Grouping
Graphics (target audience and intended message)
Color (color blindness)
White space

Question 8

What are some language considerations?

Answer 8

Even though most adults read at an 8th grade level, and 20% of the population reads at or below a 5th grade level
Plain language!