profession
Free health literacy tool kit offered by AHRQ
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 10, 2010
One in three Americans have limited health literacy, studies show. That is a challenge for physicians trying to ensure that patients understand and stick to treatment plans. A quality improvement tool issued in April by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality aims to help doctors tackle the problem head on.
The free, Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit is an online searchable, interactive digital reference guide and action plan that includes resources on how to improve medication adherence, communicate more clearly with patients and implement the "teach-back method" to assure patients understand instructions.
Physician offices and hospitals using the tool kit can assess their baseline performance and measure improvement over time.
The resource is available at the ARHQ website (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/05/10/prbf0510.htm.












