Browsing by Subject "health literacy"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Empowering Youth: Examining Health Literacy Gains in High School Students
    (2024-04-26) Grischke, Tyra; Tannir, Shadia; Bohn, Camden; Hoffman, Leslie A.
    Research Statement/ResearchQuestion This study assesses the health literacy of high school students’ before and after an educational presentation about hypertension, a health condition more prevalent in underserved communities. Background Low health literacy is associated with worse health outcomes, particularly within underserved communities. Improving health literacy among high school students can empower them to take action to improve health and well-being within their communities. Methods In spring 2023, medical students from IUSM visited four high schools to educate students on health literacy and hypertension. Participants completed a 15-item test prior to and immediately following the presentation. Demographic data (grade level, race, ethnicity, and gender) was collected. Data was collected anonymously, using assigned codes to match pre- and post-tests. Data was analyzed using paired samples t-tests and ANOVA. Results A total of 104 high school students completed pre- and post-tests. There was a significant improvement in quiz scores from pre- (7.95±1.74) to post-test (9.41±2.01; p<.001). One-way ANOVA found significant differences in pre- and post-test performance based on race, with Black students scoring lower than White students on both pre-test (7.28±1.28 vs. 8.31±1.70; p<.05) and post-test (8.55±2.21 vs. 9.85±1.76; p<.05). There was also a significant interaction between students’ gender and their pre- and post-test scores with female students showing greater improvements in test scores than male students. Limitations This study was conducted in a single school district in a small midwestern city and may not be generalizable to larger urban or rural populations. The presentation was given during a science class and may have been biased by students’ prior knowledge. Differences among presenters may also impact students’ comprehension. Conclusion High school students’ health literacy improved after an educational presentation on hypertension. This study revealed racial disparities in health literacy, highlighting the need for more health education in schools that have more students from underserved racial and ethnic groups.
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    Experiences of Nursing Students in Caring for Patients with Behaviors Suggestive of Low Health Literacy: A Qualitative Analysis
    (Sciedu Press, 2013) Shieh, Carol; Belcher, Anne E.; Habermann, Barbara
    Background: Health literacy is the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information in order to take appropriate health actions. Low health literacy is associated with poor health knowledge and self-management of chronic disease, inadequate utilization of preventive services, and increased hospital admissions. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recommends that nursing schools incorporate health literacy into curricula. Little, however, has been reported about what nursing students have learned and done about health literacy in clinical. This study explored undergraduate nursing students’ experiences in caring for patients with low health literacy. Methods: A qualitative content analysis method was used to analyze 59 narratives written by undergraduate nursing students. Results: Three themes were uncovered: sensing low health literacy by behavioral cues, promoting health literacy with multiple strategies, and closing the health information loop with positive and negative feelings. Noncompliance, knowledge deficits, anxiety/concerns, and language barriers were behavioral cues indicating low health literacy, and these cues triggered the students’ information support actions. Students promoted patient understanding and utilization of information by using many interventions: simplifying information, reinforcing information, giving written information, and demonstration/teach-back. Many students felt good about being able to help increase knowledge and self-care skills of their patients. Some were frustrated because they were unable to promote lifestyle modifications of the patients with complicated chronic diseases. Students, however, did not employ standardized tools to assess the health literacy of the patient or the patient’s knowledge of specific diseases, nor did they assess readability of patient education materials or provide patient empowerment interventions to encourage active information-seeking and participation in self-care. Conclusions: Nursing students could identify behavioral cues suggestive of low health literacy and provide solutions to increase the patient’s health literacy. To enhance student practice, nursing curricula, however, can integrate relevant health literacy assessment tools and empowerment interventions.
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    Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication – A Signature Center Initiative
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Connor, Ulla; Lauten, Kathryn
    The Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC) is a university-based research and service organization created to enhance links between the city of Indianapolis, the state of Indiana, and cultures/nations throughout the world. The center is part of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts in the Department of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). ICIC conducts internationally-recognized research on language and intercultural communication; provides practical training in language and culture for specific purposes that is informed by its research; and applies its expertise to benefit the wider community. Research Current research is on health discourse/health literacy and intercultural rhetoric/discourse through quantitative and qualitative analyses in several areas, to identify factors and forms of interaction and communication, that impact medication adherence, risk comprehension, patient decision-making, and successful self-management of diseases. Training ICIC offers group training programs and individualized tutoring in language and intercultural communication to students, faculty, medical residents and postdoctoral researchers, as well as business professionals in the community. Students from around the world come to Indianapolis to participate in our specialized language training programs. ICIC also offers training to instructors of language and intercultural communication. Our goal is to provide training tailored to learners’ needs and learning situations.
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    Instructional Messaging to Support Diet Management in Young Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Text Message Intervention
    (2024-07) Madsen, Emilie Refsbol; Brann, Maria; Head, Katharine J.; Longtin, Krista; Yeager, Valerie A.
    Previously considered a disease that afflicted adults over the age of 45, Type 2 diabetes has become a major health problem for younger age groups in recent decades, specifically young adults. The disease is often attributed to lifestyle choices, such as poor diet and inactivity. Conversely, lifestyle choices can contribute to improvement in its management and subsequent health outcomes. Through multiple research phases, I developed and employed instructional text messages to support diet management in young adults (18-45) with Type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to address the effectiveness of instructional text messages in increasing self-efficacy, health literacy, and dietary adherence over standard of care text messages in young adults with Type 2 diabetes over a two-week intervention period. The study design involved a two-arm text message intervention (comparison and intervention), wherein participants received daily text messages about diet. Formative research for the development of instructional text messages included expert interviews and panels, cognitive interviews, and pre-testing. Prior to, and following, the intervention, participants completed scales assessing health literacy, self-efficacy, and diet adherence, and responded to open-ended questions. Eighty-five participants enrolled in the intervention. I analyzed quantitative data using repeated measures ANOVAs and qualitative data using a priori and thematic analysis. Quantitative results indicated no statistically significant effect of instructional text messages over standard of care text messages in increasing health literacy, self-efficacy, and diet adherence. However, findings illustrate a remarkable main effect from receiving text messages on self-efficacy, suggesting that receiving text messages, regardless of design, may support increased self-efficacy in young adults with Type 2 diabetes. Qualitative data showed a sizable number of intervention group participants emphasized the value of the instructional design in offering actionable steps and behaviors to engage with. Most recommendations for message improvements were noted by the comparison group, many of which were implemented in the instructional messages, supporting the use of instructional design to produce engagement and behavior change. Implications of this study reflect the novel implementation of instructional design to support diet management in Type 2 diabetics and the uses of health literacy and self-efficacy to inform and evaluate diet-oriented communication interventions.
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    An intercultural analysis of sources of medical information in Spanish-speaking diabetes patients
    (2012-12) Antón, Marta; Connor, Ulla; Lauten, Kathryn; Balunda, Stephanie
    Understanding and improving health literacy have become important goals in health communication. Research has shown that limited health literacy is associated with poor health outcomes and that it is more prevalent in culturally and linguistically diverse populations. The goals of this study are to describe English-speaking (ES) and Spanish-speaking (SS) diabetic patients’ perceptions of sources of health information, to identify the actions patients report taking in seeking that information, and to test reading comprehension of medical information among SS patients. Data for this study were based on semi-structured interviews, life-story narratives, and a reading comprehension test with diabetic patients (43 native ES patients and 22 native SS patients with limited English proficiency) collected at a bilingual clinic and at an English-speaking clinic in the Midwestern United States (Indianapolis, Indiana). The results showed that the three approaches to the assessment of health literacy revealed disparities in access and use of sources of information as well as disparities in reading comprehension of health information. In view of the results, we argue that understanding and assessing health literacy, particularly in the case of ethnic minorities, requires complementary approaches of study. Emphasis should be placed on addressing the disparities SS patients face. Interventions should aim at maximizing the role of oral sources of information, training patients to use a wider variety of sources, and designing linguistically and culturally appropriate sources of health information for patients with limited English proficiency.
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    Promoting Equity for Ronald McDonald House Families with a Family Information Guide
    (2022-05) Alexander, Joelyn, F.; Zeigler, Jayson; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; Mitchell, Lisa
    Ronald McDonald House (RMH) near Lurie Children’s Hospital is an organization that offers housing and support to families seeking assistance and proximity to their hospitalized child. RMH identified a gap in support services offered to families prior to and after their stay. Parents and caregivers who have a child in the hospital are frequently unprepared and often seek information regarding this new care management role. When their information needs go unmet, they can experience burden, challenging role transitions, and occupational imbalance. The profession of occupational therapy has a distinct role in educating and empowering caregivers to adapt to their new demands. This doctoral capstone project and experience aimed to foster successful role transitions and increased quality of life for the families of RMH through the provision of equitable access to resources, the reduction of caregiver burden, and the promotion of occupational justice. After collaborating with vital stakeholders, reviewing the literature, and conducting multiple needs assessments, the doctoral capstone student was able to develop and implement a family information guide that directly combats cases of occupational injustice. With the foundation of the Framework of Occupational Justice and Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory, the doctoral capstone student was able to create a project with a human-centered design and resources pertinent to the life circumstances of RMH families. As a result of addressing both the perceived and unperceived informational needs of RMH families, this project successfully promoted caregiver confidence and security prior to their stay, during their stay, and after their stay at RMH.
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    Special Section on Inclusive Digital Health: Notable Papers on Addressing Bias, Equity, and Literacy to Strengthen Health Systems
    (Thieme, 2022-12-04) Dixon, Brian E.; Holmes, John H.; Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Objective: To summarize significant research contributions on addressing bias, equity, and literacy in health delivery systems published in 2021. Methods: An extensive search using PubMed and Scopus was conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles published in 2021 that examined ways that informatics methods, approaches, and tools could address bias, equity, and literacy in health systems and care delivery processes. The selection process comprised three steps: (1) 15 candidate best papers were first selected by the two section editors; (2) external reviewers from internationally renowned research teams reviewed each candidate best paper; and (3) the final selection of three best papers was conducted by the editorial committee of the Yearbook. Results: Selected best papers represent studies that characterized significant challenges facing biomedical informatics with respect to equity and practices that support equity and literacy in the design of health information systems. Selected papers represent the full spectrum of this year’s yearbook theme. In general, papers identified in the search fell into one of the following categories: (1) descriptive accounts of algorithmic bias in medical software or machine learning approaches; (2) enabling health information systems to appropriately encode for gender identity and sex; (3) approaches to support health literacy among individuals who interact with information systems and mobile applications; and (4) approaches to engage diverse populations in the use of health information systems and the biomedical informatics workforce Conclusions: Although the selected papers are notable, our collective efforts as a biomedical informatics community to address equity, literacy, and bias remain nascent. More work is needed to ensure health information systems are just in their use of advanced computing approaches and all persons have equal access to health care and informatics tools.