THEME 3 - LECTURE 2:
Health Literacy And Cultural Competence: Approaches And Challenges In
Designing Health Informational Materials For Low-Literate Or Non-Literate
Populations
Health Literacy, or the ability to understand health information so as
to act appropriately to maintain and enhance one's health, is a critical
part of developing cultural competence in health care. Health literacy
extends far beyond the reading ability. Most health information is transmitted
orally. Yet many patients have a significant gap in their understanding
of what they are told or given to read about health. There are many reasons
for the functional health illiteracy. Research is needed to better understand
the causes and the solutions to this serious public health problem.
At this workshop, Dr. Mark Williams from Emory Univ. will explain Health
Literacy, discuss the results of related research, and will put a face
on it by showing examples of patients with difficulties understanding
health information given to them that is critical to their well-being.
Aracely Rosales, from the Latino Health Literacy Project in Philadelphia
will describe her approach to generating health related information as
it relates directly to the cultural diversity and health care. Dr. Dean
Schillinger, from the University of California, San Francisco, will report
on a research project to understand the relationship between functional
health literacy and health outcome among diabetic patients.
George Flouty, MD is Medical Director, Public
Health Programs, with Pfizer Inc, a pharmaceutical company headquartered
in New York City. For the part four years, Dr. Flouty has spearheaded
Pfizer's effort to champion health literacy, both within the company and
through a variety of programs to raise awareness of the issue and to fund
research. In addition, he is medical director of a drug donation program
in support of the International Trachoma Initiative, a joint venture co-sponsored
by Pfizer and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in cooperation with
the World Health Organization. During his 23-year career at Pfizer, Dr.
Flouty has held various medical directorships in both the pharmaceutical
and medical devices segments of the company. Dr. Flouty completed his
medical training in the UK, and practiced in Canada before coming to the
United States.
George Flouty, MD
Medical Director, Public Health Programs
Pfizer, Inc.
Mark V. Williams, MD, FACP is an Associate Professor
of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, and Director of the
Hospital Medicine Unit. He also directs the Center for Clinical Effectiveness
of the Grady Health System. Dr. Williams graduated from Emory University
School of Medicine and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts
General Hospital. Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine,
he also completed a Faculty Development Fellowship in General Medicine
at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Dr. Williams's research primarily focuses on the role of health literacy
in the delivery of health care. He was a Co-Principal Investigator for
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant "Role of Literacy in the
Delivery of Health Care," Co-Investigator on the Prudential "Literacy
and Health Study," and has published extensively on the topic. He
was Assistant Chair of the AMA ad hoc Committee on Health Literacy and
worked with Terry Davis, PhD and Ruth Parker, MD on developing a videotape
on Health Literacy for the AMA. He currently is studying the effects of
patients' health literacy on medication knowledge and compliance.
Mark V. Williams, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Division of Medicine
Thos. Glenn Building
69 Butler Street, SE
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: (404) 616-5288
Email: mwillia@emory.edu
Aracely Rosales joined the Health Promotion Council
in 1991 to direct the Latino Health Projects. Her primary responsibilities
have been to develop, implement and oversee culturally specific bilingual
programs that would increase communication between Latino/ Hispanic consumers
and their providers, and to develop interventions that would enable consumers
to prevent and manage chronic disease. To date, Ms. Rosales has been responsible
for curriculum development, program implementation and staff supervision
for the bilingual diabetes education program, "Controlando Nuestra
Diabetes.” She has written and translated all of the Latino Project's
Spanish materials and has extensive experience in materials design and
curriculum development. Two of her guides were awarded funding from the
US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health to
support national distribution. She has helped hundreds of professionals
working with Latino community members around the Nation to learn needed
skills to successfully reach their constituents with her presentations
"Translating Across Cultures” and "Effective Diabetes Education for Latinos.”
She has overseen the production, planning and has co-hosted call-in TV
shows and a National diabetes radio program in Spanish on health related
issues. She was also member of the first National Hispanic/ Latino Diabetes
Expert Work Group for CDC, responsible for developing the Latino Recommendations
for the Diabetes Latino Initiative.
Aracely Rosales
Program Director
Latino Health Literacy Project
Health Promotion Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc.
260 Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Health Literacy Screening in Medical Practice: Should We Do It?
To describe the controversies, challenges, and opportunities that may
arise when performing health literacy screening for individuals in clinical
care. We will describe the preliminary results of our work attempting
to incorporate routine health literacy screening in 2 public-sector primary
care sites, with an emphasis on patients' experiences, providers' attitudes
regarding its clinical utility, and its impact on provider-patient communication.
We will also explore the challenges posed by health literacy screening,
including defining eligible populations, patient stigmatization, logistical/operational
barriers, and providers' need for support. We will make preliminary recommendations
to guide health care providers and administrators in deciding when and
how to operationalize a health literacy-screening program.
Dean Schillinger, MD is an Assistant Clinical
Professor of Medicine at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital. He is Medical
Director for Quality Improvement for the Department of Medicine at SFGH
and is a member of the UCSF Primary Care Research Center and the Center
for Health and Community. His interests include improving health care
for the ethically diverse and vulnerable populations cared for in safety-net
institutions. In particular, his work has focused on the impact of primary
care for vulnerable patients with chronic conditions, the provider-patient
relationship, domestic violence, language barriers, and health literacy.
He is the recipient of the Pfizer Health Literacy Research Award for his
proposal to examine the impact of health literacy screening on provider-patient
communication among patients with diabetes mellitus.
Dean Schillinger, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
UCSF/ San Francisco General Hospital
Primary Care Research Center
Box 1364
1001 Potrero Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94143-1364
Phone: (415)-206-8940
Fax: (415)-206-5586
Email: dean@itsa.ucsf.edu
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