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Overview

Implementing health literacy universal precautions in your practice requires that all staff members—from front office staff to the medical director—know about health literacy and consistently work to make healthcare clearer and easier.

Action

Educate all staff.

You can hold Lunch and Learn sessions and use staff meetings to educate staff about health literacy. Below are options for raising health literacy awareness.

• Show and discuss a video. Choose videos that help your practice understand that: 1) many patients struggle to understand health-related information and how to move through the healthcare system, and 2) practices can make it easier for patients to find, understand, and use health information and services. You can use the below videos. 
  • (6 minutes).
  • (2 minutes).
  • Refer to the Questions for Discussion and Moderator's Guide for guidance on running the session.
• Conduct a presentation.
  • Health Literacy: Making it Easier for Patients To Find, Understand, and Use Health Information and Services. This PowerPoint presentation includes 33 slides with speaker's notes. You can get through the content in 30-45 minutes. Add time for discussion. The presentation can be divided into sessions. You can also distribute the presentation for self-study.
• Share practice-specific examples of health literacy improvement opportunities (e.g., a story about a patient's experience). Be careful to protect the identity of the patient and healthcare worker.  
• Consider using the Health Literacy Assessment Quiz to gauge the knowledge of your staff. Ask staff to complete the quiz before and after your staff training. Feel free to adjust the items that reflect the key points you plan to cover.

Teach specific tools.

• Focus an educational session on a tool your practice has decided to implement. 
• Be practical; avoid conceptual and non-relevant information.
• Be interactive; draw on learners' experience and knowledge.
• Use visual aids that reinforce your message. 
• Use experiential learning approaches, such as role playing. You can find role playing ideas in the appendix and in AHRQ's Teach-Back Role Play Scenarios.
• Spell out the advantages of the change—why change is important and how it benefits clinicians, staff, patients, and the practice.
• Provide easy-to-understand handouts as reminders.

Encourage staff to take health literacy training.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers free continuing education credit for such as, "Effective Communication for Healthcare Teams: Addressing Health Literacy, Limited English Proficiency and Cultural Differences."
• Share information about events, workshops, webinars, or conferences that teach health literacy skills, especially those that offer continuing education credit. 

Maintain health literacy awareness.

• Plan to revisit the topic of health literacy periodically and train new staff. If you have students, residents, or fellows, be sure to emphasize during their training that they are learning communication skills that will be valuable regardless of their chosen specialty.
• Use existing opportunities (e.g., staff meetings, huddles) to provide booster training. Integrate health literacy strategies into other training (e.g., patient safety). Make it fun and memorable. Consider creating a very brief (and perhaps silly) video.
• Consider sending out "Health Literacy Weekly Reminders" to staff and clinicians with communication tips and plain language reminders to maintain interest in health literacy. Make it engaging, such as asking a True or False question, with the answer below.
• Post the Strategies for Key Communication posters (Tool 4: Communicate Clearly) to help staff remember the key tips for communicating effectively with patients.

Track Your Progress

• Document the proportion of staff completing health literacy training, onsite, offsite, and virtual.
• Calculate the percentage of new hires, students, and residents that complete health literacy training in their first month.
• Ensure that health literacy education is offered to staff on an ongoing basis, including regular updates, as well as training for new employees and residents rotating into the practice.
• Compare Health Literacy Assessment Quiz answers before and after staff training to assess understanding and help you know where to focus your teaching.