Instructions for Off-site Clinics and Departments  October is Health Literacy Month!  An on-site Health Literacy Fair will take Place on 10/2 and 10/3 in the 4ACC.  It’s important to us that our offsite locations have this information too!  Responsible: Unit Director/Manager  During the Month of October 2012 Please present this information to your staff by:  Printing and posting it on a Bulletin Board; or  Presenting it at a Staff Meeting

Health Literacy 101 To Learn More Contact: Audrey Riffenburgh Senior Health Literacy Specialist Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Challenge: Meeting Our Patients’ Information Needs  Our challenge—health care systems are tough for patients to manage Difficult processes, hard-to-understand policies Verbal communication—too often not understood, but patients don’t ask Print communication—too hard to read or in terminology patients don’t know

Why Don’t People Understand?  Medical terms, the human body, and our health care system are mysteries!  Reduced cognitive function  Increased demands for patient “self-care”  Potential barriers of race, language, culture, poverty, gender, illness, and literacy

What is Health Literacy?  An individual’s ability to obtain, process, understand and use health information and services to make appropriate health decisions. ~ Healthy People 2010  An organization’s ability to make it easier for people to navigate, understand, and use information and services to make…health decisions. ~ IOM “Attributes of a HL Organization,” 2012

Health Literacy vs. General Literacy  Low general literacy leads to low health literacy.  But even highly-literate people can have low health literacy.  No matter who you are, medical info is tough when you’re ill, stressed or don’t know about the topic.

“The Health Literacy of America’s Adults”  Only 12% are in the proficient level!  75 million adults are in below basic & basic levels Source: 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)

Groups at Greatest Risk of Low Health Literacy Skills  Seniors  People living in poverty  People from ethnic minority groups— Hispanic, Black, American Indian  People with physical, mental or other health problems  People with chronic or long term health problems ( Sources: 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey and Health Literacy of America’s Adults, 2003)

What is UNM Hospitals Doing to Improve Communication with Patients?  Health Literacy Classes Sign up through Learning Central  Patient-Friendly Document Committee Review and Revision of Certain Documents Creation of Templates Creation of Guideline Resources  Raising Awareness Health Literacy Fair October 2-3, 2012 Health Literacy Month – Bulletin Boards/Offsite Staff Education  Resources Online Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dept website from Intranet HSLIC Health Literacy LibGuide:

Check it Out!  Here are some recently revised documents from UNM Hospitals  See if you can spot the changes!

BEFORE

Original Parent Discharge Checklist (NBICU & ICN)

AFTER

Final Parent Discharge Checklist (NBICU & ICN)

BEFORE

Original Consent for Surgery or Procedure

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AFTER

Final (Draft) Consent for Surgery or Procedure

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