Bridging the communication gap: What do primary healthcare practitioners in New Zealand know about health literacy? What are their attitudes towards it, and how do they implement any internationally developed health literacy tools?

<p>Health Literacy has been identified internationally as an important component of health equity. As a health consumer, being health literate includes having the ability to make an informed choice about health. As a healthcare provider or health educator, being health literate is having the ability to enable the consumer to become fully informed, even if there are barriers that complicate or hamper this ability. Many health literacy tools have been developed to support clinicians, including those in primary care, in communicating effectively with their patients. When properly utilised, these tools have the potential to improve the health outcomes of their patients and also to reduce health system costs. The literature produced about health literacy has seen exponential growth, especially over the last eight years, due to increased recognition of its contribution to better healthcare outcomes. This research examined whether General Practitioners (GPs) in New Zealand were aware of health literacy concepts and the specific tools that have been developed, and whether they were utilising them. Although some health literacy tools and strategies are being implemented by GPs, they are not necessarily realising this, as their concept of health literacy seems to be focused on the general literacy level of their patients. Health literacy tools identified tended to be in the form of print and online health education materials.</p>

Bridging the communication gap: What do primary healthcare practitioners in New Zealand know about health literacy? What are their attitudes towards it, and how do they implement any internationally developed health literacy tools?

<p>Health Literacy has been identified internationally as an important component of health equity. As a health consumer, being health literate includes having the ability to make an informed choice about health. As a healthcare provider or health educator, being health literate is having the ability to enable the consumer to become fully informed, even if there are barriers that complicate or hamper this ability. Many health literacy tools have been developed to support clinicians, including those in primary care, in communicating effectively with their patients. When properly utilised, these tools have the potential to improve the health outcomes of their patients and also to reduce health system costs. The literature produced about health literacy has seen exponential growth, especially over the last eight years, due to increased recognition of its contribution to better healthcare outcomes. This research examined whether General Practitioners (GPs) in New Zealand were aware of health literacy concepts and the specific tools that have been developed, and whether they were utilising them. Although some health literacy tools and strategies are being implemented by GPs, they are not necessarily realising this, as their concept of health literacy seems to be focused on the general literacy level of their patients. Health literacy tools identified tended to be in the form of print and online health education materials.</p>

Efficacy of Communication Skills Training of Preclinical Medical Students via Health Literacy Teaching of High School Students: A Pilot Study

Objective: Communication Skills via Health Literacy (CSvHL) was a pilot elective communication skills training (CST) course, which allowed preclinical medical students to gain communication competence through the experience of being a health educator for high school students (HSSs). The efficacy of CSvHL was explored.Materials and Methods: All 10 medical students were prepared for their HSS-health-educator roles by participating in several observation sessions at an outpatient department and via communication workshops. In-field health education courses were subsequently delivered to HSSs by the medical students. Developments of the medical students’ communication skills were fostered through loops of learning activities and regular feedbacks. Assessments of the pre- and post-CSvHL communication skill levels by means of an OSCE, with adapted ComON Check were evaluated by each medical student, a standardized patient, and three medical instructors.Results: In general, the overall and category-specific average ComON Check scores of the whole class were significantly improved after the CSvHL course. The 3 communication defects with the lowest scores in the pre-CSvHL assessments were subsection division, summarization, and comprehension-check while counseling.Conclusion: CSvHL was successfully established as a preclinical-year CST course. The improvements in the ComON Check scores reflected the transformative learning gained from the hands-on experience, individualized CST, and 360° feedback OSCE for communication skill assessment.

Delivering School-Based Sexuality Education: Examining Determinants of Teachers' Intention To Teach, Co-Teach or Invite a Sexual Health Educator

BackgroundSchools need to collaborate with health network to actualize their important role in promoting sexual health among students. Studies focus on determinants of teacher’s intention to deliver sexuality education (SE), but do not take into consideration the specificity of the action and the context, i.e., the multiple teaching strategies they could choose. Teachers can deliver SE by (a) teaching students alone, (b) co-teaching, (c) inviting a sexual health educator in their classroom. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychosocial determinants of teachers' intention to deliver SE in any of those roles, using a theory-based approach.MethodsGodin's (2012) health behavior change theoretical framework - an integrated version of Ajzen's planned behavior theoretical framework, Triandis's interpersonal behaviors, and Banduras's social cognitive theory - was used to measure teachers' intentions and determinants to do SE. A 66-minute online questionnaire was sent to teachers at a school service center in Quebec. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the independent variables (determinants of intention) and the intention to teach alone SE, co-teach, or invite a sexual health educator.ResultsA total of 295 teachers from 51 elementary and 12 secondary schools were selected for analyses. Nearly 40% (39.9%) of the study participants had a favorable intention to teach SE alone to their students, 36.2% by co-teaching and 76.5% by inviting a sexual health educator. The main predictors of intention were respectively: a) for the teaching SE alone model (R2=58%): self-efficacy in sexual health education (OR = 6.07; p < .001), followed by moral norm (OR = 5.35; p < .001), descriptive norm (OR = 3.37; p < .01), comfort teaching the SE curriculum (OR = 3.09; p < .01), and past experience (OR = 2.89; p < .01). Age was also negatively associated with the outcome variable (OR = 0.92; p < .001). b) For the co-teaching model (R2=46%): moral norm (OR = 7.97; p < .001), followed by educational attainment (OR = 3.40; p < .05), teaching multi-age or multi-grade groups (OR = 2.36; p < .05), and self-efficacy with working in partnership (OR = 1.27; p < .05). Further, age (OR = .93; p < .001) and gender (OR = .44; p < .05) were negatively associated with the outcome variable. c) For the inviting sexual health educator model (R2=55%): moral norm (OR = 3.81; p < .001), followed by anticipated regret (OR = 2.45; p < .05), and descriptive norm (OR = 2.38; p < .05). Teachers who reported feeling comfortable teaching the SE curriculum (OR = .45; p < .05) were less likely to intend inviting a sexual health educator.ConclusionsResults indicate that determinants of teacher intention are relatively distinct depending on whether teachers make the decision to teach SE to their students alone, co-teach, or invite a sexual health educator in their classroom. The study further suggests complementary strategies being adopted by schools to optimize implementation of SE program.

Edukasi Pencegahan Dan Deteksi Dini Komorbid TB-DM Pada Kader TB-HIV Care 'Aisyiyah

Tuberculosis (TB) dan Diabetes Mellitus (DM) merupakan kondisi komorbid kronis yang mengalami lonjakan ko-epidemik. Di sisi lain, keterlibatan komunitas umumnya belum dimulai. Tujuan pengabdian masyarakat kali ini adalah untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan kader tentang TB-DM dan meningkatkan kesinambungan program kesehatan dengan melakukan engagement dengan fasilitas kesehatan setempat. Mitra pengabdian masyarakat adalah kader TB-HIV Care Aisyiyah Kota Yogyakarta. Kegiatan dilakukan dengan satu siklus action research, meliputi: 1) diagnosing/ assessment kebutuhan komunitas sasaran, 2) planning/ perencanaan kegiatan, 3) action berupa implementasi sesi edukasi tentang komorbiditas TB-DM serta pelibatan petugas kesehatan setempat sebagai health educator, 4) evaluation/ analisis peningkatan skor pengetahuan kader dan refleksi. Materi edukasi diberikan dalam dua sesi ceramah dan ditambah dengan media edukasi yang telah diujicobakan pada kelompok lainnya. Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test digunakan untuk menganalisis perbedaan skor pre-test dan post-test dalam intervensi/ quasi experiment tanpa kelompok kontrol. Hasilnya didapatkan peningkatan signifikan rata-rata skor total pengetahuan kader tentang komorbiditas TB-DM (p=0.001). Media dan upaya edukasi dinyatakan acceptable dan feasible digunakan pada karakteristik pengguna kader. Kegiatan edukasi bermanfaat meningkatkan pengetahuan kader tentang TB-DM. Kader berpotensi meningkatkan upaya promosi pencegahan dan deteksi dini TB-DM di masyarakat.

Elderly oral health care

Dental nurse and oral health educator Leanne Birkett on how you can get involved in caring for some of the most vulnerable in our society

Nurse Practitioner’s Clinical Triggers for Referral to Other 3D Team Members

This presentation features how 3D Team nurse practitioners (NP) use results of clinical assessments to determine whether older adults and caregivers enrolled in the study are referred to other Team members; these assessment results are called “clinical triggers”. Other team members who receive referrals based on NP-generated clinical triggers include: Licensed Clinical Social Workers, who deliver Problem Solving Therapy to older adults with significant depressive symptoms; Occupational Therapists, who deliver an evidence-based dementia care intervention; Physical Therapists, who deliver an adapted Otago exercise program; Registered Dietician, who provides nutrition and dietary instruction; and Community Health Educator, who provides community resource information to address social determinants of health. All clinical triggers will be detailed in this presentation, along with a description of each intervention delivered by other team members except the Community Health Educator. Case studies will be presented to illustrate how study participants receive multiple interventions from the 3D Team.

Community Health Educator’s Role on the 3D Team

As a member of the 3D Team, the bilingual, bicultural Community Health Educator (CHE) addresses needs expressed by study participants related to social determinants of health. Clinical triggers generated by nurse practitioners (NPs) that lead to CHE referral include: social isolation and loneliness; lack of transportation access; lack of resources to sustain nutritional adequacy, purchase medications, and purchase assistive devices; and cultural and linguistic barriers that lead to lack of knowledge about community resources. To date, 50% of study participants randomized to receive 3D Team care have triggered referral to the CHE. In this presentation, the team CHE will provide details on the frequency of different needs expressed by study participants, how she utilizes an ever-growing community resource directory, and specific types of information and guidance she provides to address their expressed needs. Case studies will help illustrate ways in which CHE services have successfully provided assistance to study participants.