Health Literacy on the Forefront: Preparing Doctor of Physical Therapy Students to be Leaders in Patient Education
Purpose: As the profession of Physical Therapy continues to strive to be a primary point of contact in the healthcare field, it is vital that physical therapists be effective in the education of patients and caregivers. Physical Therapy education in the 21st century is robust and includes courses packed with content on physiology, evaluation and treatment. Though students acquire the knowledge a physical therapist must possess, often times they cannot put their patient educator skills into action until their clinical experiences. The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program along with University of Missouri Center for Health Policy developed a learning activity to allow students the opportunity to not only learn more about health literacy but to also apply health literacy techniques in a simulated patient encounter.Methods and/or Description of Project: DPT students completed pre-didactic/simulated patient questionnaire rating their knowledge and importance of health literacy. Following an engaging didactic session, DPT student groups participated in a simulated patient encounter requiring patient education related to a specific diagnosis. Student groups of 2-3 were assigned a specific patient education task which included indications/contraindications, home exercise program or transfer training, Following the simulated patient encounter, students regrouped for a debriefing session. Subjects were provided feedback from their peers, faculty and simulated patients. Subjects then completed post-didactic/simulated patient questionnaire rating their knowledge and importance of health literacy.Results/Outcomes: Data was collected on 6 questions with student responses corresponding to level of knowledge and importance. Data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test followed by Wilcoxon non-parametric test. A significant difference was found between pre and post surveys for 5 out of the 6 questions. (highest p=0.006). Students found their knowledge and pereption of importance of health literacy to be improved following this learning activity.Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: Our Leadership Landscape: Perspectives from the Ground Level to 30,000 Feet: Students often times do not have the opportunity to improve their patient educator skills until their first clinical experiences.As our profession continues to strive for automous practice, we have an opportunity to be leaders in educating our patients and empowering them to make informed decisions about their healthcare. Through this simulated patient activity, students were able to practice utilizing their health literacy skills. The explicit education of DPT students related to health literacy along with a carefully designed simulation activity can have a powerful impact on professional development. The inclusion of this material is critical to closing the gap of healthcare disparities that exist secondary to health literacy Poor health literacy is an epidemic in our society. As the physical therapy profession strives to transform society, research has shown preparing the future generation of health professionals is vital to that transformation.References: 1.Green J, Gonzaga AM, Cohen E, Spagnoletti C. Addressing health literacy through clear health communication: a training program for internal medicine residents. Patient Education and Counseling. 2014;95:76-82. 2. McCleary-Jones V. A systematic review of the literature on health literacy in nursing education. Nurse Educator. 2016;41:93-97. 3. Toronto C, Weatherford B. Health literacy education in health professions schools: an integrative review. J of Nursing Education. 2015;54:669-676. 4. Zanchetta M, Taher Y, Fredericks S, Waddell J, Fine C, Sales R. 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Chen A, Noureldin M, Plake K. Impact of a health literacy assignment on student pharmacist learning. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. 2013;9:531-541. 16. Coleman C, Peterson-Perry S, Bumsted T. Long-term effects of a health literacy curriculum for medical students. Fam Med. 2016;48:49-53. 17. Grice G, Gattas N, Sailors J, Murphy J, Tiemeier A, Hurd P, Prosser T, Berry T, Duncan W. Health literacy; use of the four habits model to improve student pharmacists’ communication. Patient Education and Counseling. 2013;90:23-28.Course Objectives: 1. Participants will understand the health literacy research results in other professions such as medicine, nursing and pharmacy. 2. Participants will understand common language used in health literacy 3. Participants will understand the challenges associated with health literacy in healthcare. 4. Participants will be provided with techniques for "best practice" in educating their patients 5. Participants will be provided with resources to incorporate health literacy into their practice and education of others 6. Participants will be exposed to ways to develop health literacy education and activities within their own curriculum.Instructional Methods: Powerpoint presenstation, video clips of health literacy simulated activity, hands on learning activity within the presentationTentative Outline/Schedule: 1. Introduction to Health Literacy (45 minutes -1 hour) a. What is health literacy - Common Terms used in Health Literacy b. What does research show about health literacy in the United States (patient data) - challenges to health literacy -costs of health literacy (medical errors) c. Participant activity involving literacy/communication - discussion of communication/miscommunication -univeral precautions d. Techniques to ensure proper health literacy - teach back -using plan language -using analogies appropriate for the patient and their education 2. Review of literature for other health professions who have researched health literacy in the education of students (nursing, medicine, pharmacy) (15 minutes) 3. Designing health literacy learning experience for physical therapy students (30 minutes) -overview of current simulated patient activity that is being used in authors' PT curriculum -recruitment of simulated patients -development of cases used for activity -challenges to learning activity -student perspective -overview of results of data collected from activity 4. Q & A (5-10 minutes)