Return-Path: <nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i8OCT1828444; Fri, 24 Sep 2004 08:29:01 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 08:29:01 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <99894867A583824D87935EE9BF59C3C6029C6E93@agency5.state.ky.us> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: RuthR.Davis@ky.gov To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-HEALTH:4546] RE: Iowa Health and Literacy Conference X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2657.72) Status: O Content-Length: 11649 Lines: 299 Good Morning Mr. Willard: I just heard about the New Readers of Iowa conference from Helen Osborne this past Wednesday. She was the keynote speaker at a health literacy conference here in central Kentucky. We are just beginning a community work with health literacy and I am eager to learn about ways different communities and states are addressing the many dimensions of literacy & its impact on health. Helen spoke so positively about the conference and stated she thought she had learned so much from being there. At some time in the not too distance future, I would like to see a similar conference held here in Kentucky. I appreciation all the information you have shared in this communication. Thank you for taking the time to put it together & to send it out for all of us to learn from your experiences. Thanks, Ruth R. Davis, MSN, RN, CHES Community Health Nursing Supervisor Madison County Health Department 1001 Rash Road, P.O. Box 1047 Berea, KY 40403 859-986-7262, ext. 234 -----Original Message----- From: Archie Willard [mailto:millard@goldfieldaccess.net] Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 11:00 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-HEALTH:4545] Iowa Health and Literacy Conference The New Readers of Iowa’s “Health and Literacy Working Together” Conference is over. I don’t think there has ever been a state new readers conference like this one before. This health and literacy conference could be held up as a model to be used by other states. In the past someone with higher education has spoken for the adult learners. They have talked with us, asked us questions, and have written reports about us. They have gone to Congress and other groups to give their opinions on what they think it’s like for those of us with reading problems. At this conference the adult learners spoke for themselves, and people listened to and learned about our point of view of health care. In Iowa after fifteen consecutive years of adult learner conferences, we have developed leadership and we have a group of good adult leaders within our state who will speak out. People from ten different states attended this conference. That makes the voice of this conference a lot stronger. People with literacy problems, educators, people from the medical field and others were there. If anyone takes a good look at what happened at this conference, it could be the spark that makes things come about to build better communications in health care. There was a panel of health professionals from the Iowa Health System with each person speaking from his/her own perspective. The message from all of them to us was to not give up on ourselves and for us, the adult learners, to tell the people in the medical field about our reading problems. They will then understand and help us. They encouraged us to ask more questions and to take more responsibility for our own health care. They also told us about how they have to struggle to provide good health care when they aren’t made aware of our poor literacy skills. We all left the conference with a better understanding of each other. The adult learners looked at forms that the Iowa Health System uses. We told them about the things we didn’t understand about the forms as well as pointing out the good things. The feedback about our work that I have received from the Iowa Health System has been very positive. At the end of the first day people were able to talk about their medications with one of a group of pharmacists provided by Drake University School of Pharmacy. Being able to do this was a big hit with the adult learners. Some of them said they had been taking their medications wrong and were very pleased to receive this new information. The most important thing the adult learners did was to make some comments and a statement concerning how we feel about health literacy. This statement will always be out there for people to see and it belongs to the adult learners who were at the Iowa Conference. You can read this statement a little further below. A lot of good things happened at this conference – in fact there were too many to mention all of them. You just had to be there to take them all in. A lot of good people and organizations came to help and even some people who came on their own were there to help make this conference a success. I don’t know how to start to say thanks, but I do want to say, Thank you so much!!” to you all. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in their Health Literacy Executive Summary, “A Prescription to End Confusion,” reports problems in health care today because of poor literacy and communication skills in this country. At the Iowa Health and Literacy Working Together Conference many of these issues were brought to the surface. My thinking about what has happened and what should come next after this conference: Adult learners were there to help the AMA make their video, “Health Literacy - Help Your Patients Understand”, and some of the adult learners who were at the Iowa Conference were also in this video. This video could not have been possible without the help of the adult learners. The video has reached and brought awareness to thousands of doctors all over the country and it is still reaching more. Now The New Readers of Iowa have a model health literacy conference to work from. The next step should be a health literacy summit where adult learners who have experience in health literacy meet face to face with the medical field to build better communications. Archie Willard Adult Learner The Information below was compiled at the Iowa Health and Literacy conference by Maricel G. Santos and Lisa Soricone from the Harvard School of Public Health. What the adult learners generated Part I. Challenges and barriers. In groups, the learners examined the picture prompts and then discussed the following questions: 1. What common problems related to these activities do you notice? 2. What kinds of things should adult learners do to try and overcome these difficulties? 3. What kinds of things do you think doctors and nurses should do to make things easier for adult learners? 4. What kinds of things do you think adult educators should teach so that adult learners are better prepared to handle these difficulties? Here is a summary of their responses. Message to medical professionals Make instructions more readable Bigger print on read-outs, ranges Make steps clearer Explain what is ‘high’ /’low’ – the range Make sure prescription is filled correctly Tell us when pill colors change Keep pharmacy informed about prescriptions (like when my medications change) Doctors should write clearly What is the reading level of prescription labels? Explain medications when prescribing What is it? What’s it for? How to take or use it? Treat us with respect – don’t be in a hurry, and we’ll treat you with respect Use more picture symbols in instructions Information about drugs – reactions, instructions Clearer information about side effects Simplify instructions – explain or read Don’t assume that patients understand and can read Don’t feel sorry for us. We won’t take ‘no’ for an answer Print info in other languages Message to adult educators Be aware of students who have illnesses Take the time to help with students’ questions Better explanations from teachers and doctors Looks may be deceiving Learn that we won’t take ‘no’ for an answer Message to adult learners Tell your teacher that you have a condition/disease Ask teacher for help Know your medical conditions (reactions, history, allergies) Repeat what the doctors say “What I heard you say was…” Open up prescription at store Don’t focus on “I can’t read.” Instead, say “I don’t understand the label.” Part II. Drafting the literacy statement. The adult learners worked in groups to craft a statement which captured what they wanted to say about health and literacy. This message will be sent out to people who work in the medical field. The adult learners were asked, What do you want to tell doctors, nurses, and other health professionals about adult learners like yourselves? Here is a summary of their statements: Draft Statements 1. Slow down, take your time, be responsible to me as a patient. 2. Make sure patients understand about their meds and their treatment before they leave the office. 3. We want you to try and understand us more. 4. You respect us and we’ll respect you. 5. Once you find out we have reading problems, you should do follow ups. 6. Ask us questions to make sure we understand about our health care. 7. We have always been here. We’ve always been the backbone of this country. We need help from doctors now. We need the best explanations about tests, procedures, and prescriptions. We are human beings that need to be understood. We need help to help ourselves and our families. It’s about human respect. Yes, we lack skills. But we are not less than. 8. Speak clearly. 9. Wash hands before treating us. 10. Explain side effects so we can understand. 11. Talk to us about prescriptions so we understand them. 12. Don’t be in a hurry. 13. What you learn today will last you a lifetime. 14. Treat your patients like you would like to be treated. 15. Explain in different ways (pictures, video, etc.) how to take medications, use tools. The final statement (the group voted and decided on the following) Statement #1 We have always been here. We’ve always been the backbone of this country. We need help from doctors now. We need the best explanations about tests, procedures, and prescriptions and their side effects. We want to tell doctors, “We need help to help ourselves and our families. Slow down and take your time. Treat us as you would like to be treated. Simplify your work so that it can be cost-efficient for both patients and doctors. Once you find out we have reading problems, you should do follow ups.” We are human beings that need to be understood. Make sure that we understand. It’s about human respect. Yes, we lack a skill. But we’re not less than. Statement #2 A doctor’s office is no place for a reading test. What the teachers and health professionals generated Teachers were asked the following questions: 1. How does the photo remind you of your own experiences in carrying out similar activities? 2. What kinds of challenges might this kind of activity pose to your students? 3. What do these challenges suggest for your teaching, in terms of: a) Skills to focus on b) Lesson ideas for teaching those skills in a health context Here is a summary of their responses: Challenges Reading Terminology Fixed income Medicines, heat, food Time Numeracy – percents Abbreviations Manual skills Being able to read forms Language barriers Apprehension/fear of forms and asking questions Mobility Understanding communication Ability to ask questions Skills Improve speaking skills Being able to teach back Listening skills Assertiveness – ask for help Math Organization Reading/writing skills Learning healthcare vocabulary Manual skills Healthy life styles Lesson ideas for teaching Units on healthy eating Calculator use Demonstrate pill sorter List of medicines to carry with them – allergies, surgical procedures, health history Medical history forms – to practice on Insurance forms – and practice terminology Publicize availability of med cards Demonstration of instruments Sight word recognition Health care provider to come in Log book to record eating time and blood sugar ClearHealth.com -- Archie Willard URL - http://www.readiowa.org/archiew.html
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