HERDU

This pilot study aims to identify and measure the health literacy needs of patients receiving care from Sydney District Nursing and to design and implement a health literacy professional development module for Sydney District Nursing staff focused on improving staff health literacy responsiveness.
The health system is becoming more complex to access and navigate. There are increases in:
Low health literacy can be a barrier to accessing appropriate health care, high quality patient-provider communication and self-management. Low health literacy follows a social gradient. Patients and communities who speak a language other than English and from low SES backgrounds are more likely to have low health literacy and have less capacity to cope with the above complexities. Consequently, they are more likely to suffer adverse events and health outcomes and to be less able to make optimal use of health services.
One strategy to improve equity in health outcomes and access for people with low health literacy may be for providers to be trained to be more responsive to the needs of people with different health literacy profiles. Currently, provider training in health literacy tends to be quite generic and to focus on the effectiveness of communication (e.g. through learning the ‘teach-back’ technique). Developing health literacy profiles of patients in the community will enable providers to be trained to address and to be more responsive to specific health literacy needs.
Stage 1: Focus group with Sydney District Nursing staff to identify staff perceptions of the main health literacy needs of their patient cohort
Stage 2: Sydney District Nursing staff will administer a short health literacy questionnaire to their clients based on the needs identified in stage 1
Stage 3: The research team will develop a professional development module based on the findings of stage 2 to improve the health literacy responsiveness of Sydney District Nursing staff to their patient's needs
Stage 4: Delivery of training module. Follow up of patients and staff to identify any changes in responsiveness to patients
Fiona Haigh
Email: f.haigh@unsw.edu.au
Sydney Local Health District
Sydney Local Health District
HERDU
Action for Equity