Paper
Saturday, November 3, 2007
71
Functional Health Literacy Evaluation of Hispanic Migrant Patients
Eugenia Missik, PhD, RN, College of Nursing, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA and Maria Laura Lenardon, MA, Modern Languages, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Define functional health literacy |
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss the relationship of functional health literacy and appropriate health education approaches |
Low functional health literacy (FHL) is strongly associated with negative health outcomes and is particularly evident in Hispanic migrants. Evaluation of FHL is complicated by the scarcity of appropriate instruments which are often not adapted to patient’s needs.
Hispanic migrants have greater difficulty in accessing and processing health information compared to the general population. Health information necessary to make appropriate health decisions is not adapted to their needs or suitable to their literacy levels. Their ability to understand and follow instructions needed for risk reduction and self-management is limited.
The purpose of this pilot project was to evaluate the FHL of Hispanic patients in a migrant health clinic.
The sample consisted of 28 subjects 18+ years of age. The Spanish Newest Vital Sign (NVS) instrument was used which was linguistically and culturally adapted to the needs of patients by professional interpreters. The six NVS questions are related to a nutritional label. Verbal consent was secured and data was collected in the waiting room of the clinic. Data was entered into an SPSS file. Scores were grouped into three literacy categories 1 (Marginal, 0-1), 2 (Limited, 2-3), and 3 (Adequate, 4-6). Internal consistency was moderate (Cronbach alpha = 0.5). Mean age was 34.3 years and education averaged 8.8 years. More than half (57%) scored in group 1, 36% in group 2, and 7% in group 3. Student’s t-test showed no significant differences between age, gender or education and FHL scores.
Findings indicate these patients have a high probability to misunderstand directions for health care and are more likely to make medications errors or fail to follow medical recommendations. Health providers need to adopt oral and written communication practices appropriate to the identified FHL of patients. The use of simplified oral and written language including audio-visual aids is needed.